Maple & Birds
by Shinigami-cat
Summary: Three years ago Gilbert lost Matthew and turns to cutting for comfort. Can the mysterious Canada help him get over his past when monsters haunt his own?
1. Prologue

**Shinigami-cat: **Just an idea I had. The song used is _A place where you belong _by Bullet for my Valentine... I OWN NOTHING!

**Summary:**

**Three years ago Matthew disappeared. Two years ago Gilbert attempted suicide. One year ago a man called Canada started to run a pawn shop near the ocean. This year Gilbert met Canada and hates his guts for looking and acting like Matthew. Canada doesn't care. Gilbert can hate him all he wants but it doesn't change the fact that Gilbert owes him seventeen million dollars.**

**Warning:**

**Bad language, suicide themes and supernatural stuff...**

**Maple and Birds**

**Prologue**

_You're gone, you're gone_

Gilbert sat on his bed with a red marker in his hand. He had locked himself in his room and refused to come out. Nothing could make him leave. Not even his brother who was knocking at his door. "Go away West!" Snapped Gilbert. "I don't want to talk to anyone!"

"Gilbert open the door!" Called his brother in frustration. "Just open the door!"

"I TOLD YOU TO GO AWAY LUDWIG!" Screamed Gilbert. "I'M NOT LEAVING MY ROOM TODAY! GO AWAY!"

"It's been a year!" Called Ludwig. "You can't blame yourself for it!"

Gilbert threw the marker at the door and pulled his knees up to his chest. "I'll come out later... I just need to be alone right now..."__

_Your body's cold, hope is lost, I can't let go  
>Can I die with you so we can never grow old?<br>Cut the ties, cut the ties with this note you left behind  
>As I read the words I hear you telling me why<br>_

"... Fine. Just as long as you do come out sometime today."

Gilbert heard Ludwig walk away from the door and he sighed. He reached over to his bedside table and opened one of the draws. After he rummaged around in it for a bit he managed to grab a small piece of paper. He didn't even look at what was written on it. He had it memorised. He just held it over his chest and tried to hold back his sobs. It wasn't working too well.

_Too late, too late, I never said goodbye  
>Too late, too late, can't even ask you why<br>And now I'm wasting away in my own misery  
>I hope you're finally gone to a place where you belong<br>_

He hated himself for what happened. He knew he had no control over what happened but he could have been with him. He might have been able to save him... he could have... he should have... he would have... But he wasn't even there.

_My sadness shows as your name is carved in stone  
>Can't erase the words so the reality grows<br>I wish I'd died on that night right by your side  
>So just kill me now and let the good times roll<br>_

He could remember the day they lowered his coffin into the grave. He remembered he didn't cry that day. He didn't see any point in crying over an empty coffin. He remembered how some people looked at him. Like he shouldn't even be there. He wasn't family. He wasn't grieving. But what did they know? They were stupid. He wanted to die that day.

_Too late, too late, I never said goodbye  
>Too late, too late, can't even ask you why<br>And now I'm wasting away in my own misery  
>I hope you're finally gone to a place where you belong<br>_

Gilbert wiped away his tears and sat up. He didn't want to cry. Not anymore. He didn't want to be here. Not anymore. He didn't want to be in pain. Not anymore. He put the piece of paper back in his draw and slowly walked to the door. He opened it up had a look around. His brother wasn't anywhere in sight and neither was his grandfather. But they wouldn't be far.

He quickly and silently walked into the bathroom and locked the door behind him. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He was going to do it. He opened up one of the draws under the sink and found the spar razors and grabbed one. He rolled up his sleeve and pressed the razor against his skin.

_Will you wait for me? Will you wait for me?  
>Will I see you on the other side?<br>You don't have to wait too long, yeah, yeah  
>Will you come to me? Will you come to me?<br>Will you take me to the other side  
>'Cause here I don't belong<br>_

His arm was soon riddled with cuts but they were shallow. It hurt too much to make any deep cuts just yet. "Come on." He muttered to himself. "He's waiting for me. I can't chicken out now. It's just a bit of pain... I can handle it. I'm awesome." He aimed right for the veins in his wrist. He raised the blade high into the air and brought it down. Blood splattered the walls and Gilbert cried out in pain.

Soon Ludwig and his grandfather were beating their fists against the door. "OPEN THIS DOOR RIGHT NOW GILBERT!" Cried his grandfather.

"BRUDER! DON'T DO IT!" Screamed Ludwig.

Gilbert began to panic. If they broke through they would stop him. He couldn't let them. "GO AWAY!" He shrieked. "GO AWAY! I'M FINE! LEAVE ME ALONE! GO AWAY! GO AWAY! GO AWAY!" He quickly grabbed the razor in his now blood soaked hand and slashed his other wrist. He watched the blood flow from his wrists and onto the floor. He could still hear his family trying to break down the door but they weren't getting through.

_Too late, too late, I never said goodbye  
>Too late, too late, can't even ask you why<br>And now I'm wasting away in my own misery  
>I hope you're finally gone to a place where you belong<br>_

Soon Gilbert began to feel light headed and dizzy. He sat down on the floor and leaned against the bathtub. He had heard from people that have had near death experiences that when you die you feel cold. But he felt warm. It was a wonderful feeling. It was almost like he was floating.

His eye lids became heavy and he listened to the sound of his heart beating in his chest. Lub-dub, lub-dub, lub-dub, lub-dub... lub-dub... lub-dub... lub-dub... lub... dub... lub... dub... lub...

_I never said goodbye, oh, can't even ask you why  
>I'm wasting away in my own misery<br>I hope you're finally gone to a place where you belong_

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **I hope you like it! Please review!


	2. Broken vase

**Shinigami-cat: **Well... I OWN NOTHING!

**Broken vase**

_Do it._

_Pathetic_

_Just do it. Hurry up and do it!_

"Shut up..." Gilbert whispered.

_Do it!_

"Shut up... Just shut up."

_Chicken! You're afraid! You can't do it!_

"Shut up. Shut up. Shut up."

_Loser! Pathetic! Wimp!_

"Leave me alone."

_Just die! Hurry up and die!_

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Gilbert chanted as he gripped his hair. "Just shut up! Just shut up!"

_Look the baby's going to cry! Poor little baby._

He growled and pressed a small razor blade to his wrist. "Shut up! Get the hell out of my head!" He swiftly cut his wrist and winched in pain as the crimson liquid poured out the fresh wound and onto the bathroom floor. The pain stopped the voices momentarily and he could breathe a sigh of relief. But all too soon the voices started again.

_Loser!_

_Just die!_

_Hurry up and die!_

_DIE! DIE! DIE! _

_Such a baby! Crying over a little cut!_

_Is he going to cry?_

_What a loser!_

_He's so unawesome!_

_LOSER! WITH A CAPITAL L!_

_JUST DIE ALREADY! NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOU!_

Again he cut his wrists again and again until they were completely red. But he didn't want to die just yet. Gilbert grabbed some toilet paper and pressed it against his arms to stop the blood flow. When it stopped he pulled some fresh bandages out of his pocket and wrapped up his arms. He then quickly mopped up the floor and flushed the toilet paper.

Gilbert might have been a depressed cutter but he wasn't going to let someone have a heart attack because there was blood all over the floor. When he was done he walked over to the sink to wash his bloodied hands. When he was done he filled his hands with water and washed his face.

He shook his head and looked at his reflection; ghostly white skin, cracked chapped lips, Blood shot red eyes and messy damp silver hair. He took a deep breath and smirked at his reflection. "I am Gilbert Beilschmidt. I'm freaking awesome. No one is more awesome than me. I'm made of pure awesomeness. I am going to walk out of here and everything will be back to normal!"

He nodded and walked out of the bathroom into the hall. Full of happy students with their happy lives without a care in the world. He truly envied them. Two years after he had attempted suicide and several months of therapy later he no longer wanted to die but he still cut. It wasn't a cry for help or something stupid like that. He just wanted to be closer to him.

He shook his head and grinned. '_I'm fine. I'm alright. I'm okay. Everything is fine... I'm okay... God this is stupid..._' He was told by his therapist to think happy thoughts, to keep a positive attitude on things because if he thought it for long enough apparently he would feel too. Bullshit. He felt like a weirdo for even thinking that think happy thought would help him. It just made him feel stupid.

He quickly made his way up to the roof to meet up with Antonio and Francis. On the way there he bumped into people and just flashed them his usual cocky smirk and they just rolled their eyes. Gilbert didn't take any offence to it. He knew they didn't care. Eventually he got to the roof and opened the door. "The awesome is here!" He proclaimed.

"Put a sock in it Gilbert." Sighed Francis as he flipped some of his long blond hair out of his eyes. "You don't have to put that act up in front of us." Francis was leaning against the railing.

"He's right amigo." Said Antonio. "You're among friends." Antonio was sitting on the ground eating a tomato. His green eyes seemed full of concern. Besides Ludwig and his grandfather only Francis and Antonio knew that he had attempted suicide. They knew that Gilbert put up an act whenever he was around people these days to make them think that everything was fine but it worried them. They could tell by looking into Gilbert's eyes that he was never alright. His smile never reached his eyes.

Gilbert just laughed at them and leaned against the railing. He could easily see the ocean from the roof of the school. It was just a five minute walk to the beach anyway. "I don't know what you guys are talking about. I'm awesome."

Francis and Antonio exchanged worried looks. "It's been three years Gilbert." Said Francis. "You have to let it go. It wasn't your fault."

Gilbert frowned shrugged. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Please don't do this Gilbert." Said Antonio. "You can talk to us about it if you want... It is his anniversary isn't it? Maybe you should visit his grave?"

Gilbert chuckled darkly but still had his smile on his face. "Why would I go to a grave that has no body? That's just stupid Antonio. That's like going to Russia to enjoy the hot sandy beaches."

"It might make you feel better." Said Francis.

Gilbert glared at Francis. "How the hell would visiting an empty grave make me feel better?"

"I don't know." Said Francis. "Antonio and I are going after school. Why don't you come with us?"

Antonio nodded enthusiastically. "Si! That's a great idea!"

"I'd rather kill myself." Muttered Gilbert.

"Don't even think about it!" Snapped Francis.

"Kidding." Said Gilbert. "Stop taking it so seriously. I'm not going to kill myself every time I say shit like that."

"Then don't joke about it." Said Antonio. "We don't want you to die!"

Gilbert shrugged. "It doesn't matter if I live or die the world keeps spinning round and round."

"We would be devastated if you died Gilbert." Said Francis.

Gilbert chuckled. "Yeah... I guess Bad Touch Duo doesn't have the same ring to it as Bad Touch Trio." Neither Antonio nor Francis found that comment funny. "What? Can't take a joke? You guys are weird."

Antonio shook his head. "After school we're taking you home okay. You don't have to come with us to his grave. Well just drop you home."

Gilbert shook his head. "I'll just go home with Ludwig. I wouldn't have even come to school today if the locks weren't removed from my door. Trust issues much? It's not like I'm going to try and kill myself again!"

Antonio and Francis looked at each other. Even though Gilbert hadn't attempted suicide they knew that he still cut every now and then when things got too hard. They were worried that one day he would accidently kill himself if he kept it up.

"You shouldn't kill yourself for his sake." Said Antonio.

Gilbert sighed. "I know... I know... But I wouldn't blame myself if I did." Francis slapped Gilbert in the back of the head. "OUCH! The hell Francis?

Francis. "Gilbert. There was nothing you could have done. It isn't your fault Matthew disappeared."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Soon school ended and everyone rushed out. Gilbert stood out the front of the school waiting for Ludwig. He didn't have to wait long before his brother walked out the doors. Even though they were brothers they looked nothing alike. Gilbert was lean and had red eyes and silver hair but Ludwig was freaking tank, had blue eyes and blond hair. Basically he looked just like every other Beilschmidt. Gilbert was working under the theory he was adopted.

Ludwig walked up to Gilbert and sighed. "Can Antonio and Francis make sure you get home today? I'm tutoring Feliciano today."

Gilbert nodded. "Sure I was just going to tell you that we were going to head over to Francis's place today so I won't get back until later." He lied. "Don't bother to call unless you have to okay?"

Ludwig nodded. "Okay... I just want to make sure that you really are going with Francis and Antonio and not running off to-" Suddenly a short brunet with a random curl sticking out the left side of his head with amber eyes appeared next to Ludwig.

"Ve let's go Ludy! Oh hi Gilbert!" He said.

Gilbert chuckled. "Hey Feliciano. What's up? Heard my little bro's going to be tutoring you for a while. What are you failing this time?"

"Maths." Said Feliciano honestly

Gilbert nodded. "I see... Why don't you two run along now? I'll be fine."

"But Gilbert I don't' think that-"

Gilbert rolled his eyes and nudged Feliciano and Ludwig away. "I'll be fine. Go and have fun!" Reluctantly Ludwig was pulled away by the hyper Italian. When he was gone Gilbert sighed and started to walk towards the ocean. He had his iPod on and was listening to some band called Creature Feature.

When he had gotten to the beach he made his way over to the rocks. He climbed down to a small, flat rock shelf and sat down so he was facing the sea. Several times he had come there with the intent to throw himself off and into the sea but he could never bring himself to do it. He sat down and brought his knees up to his chest and sighed. "I miss you so much... I wish you were here with me now."

His words were carried out into the sea and swallowed by the crashing waves. The sea spray flew through the air as it crashed into the rocks and filled the air around him. He licked his lips and sighed at the salty taste. He closed his eyes and started to sing in his native tongue. He wasn't sure what he was singing he just was. Just like ocean took his words so too did the ocean steal his song.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed before he opened his eyes again. He guessed it wasn't too late because no one had bothered to call him. He sighed and stood up. His legs were starting to go numb. He starched his legs and started his long walk home.

On the way he passed several beach side shops the usual stuff really; fish and chips shop, fishing shop, boat rental place, a corner store, a flower shop and some other store Gilbert had deemed to unawesome to look at. In truth he just never had time to look there. It opened about a year ago and due to him not being allowed to go anywhere without someone being with him He hadn't bothered to check it out. Well today was as good as any.

He looked into the window of the shop and frowned. Inside were hundreds of bits and bobs. Toys, boxes, figurines, instruments, chairs, tables, candles and even some kind of life size figurine sitting in one of the chairs in the shop. He looked up at the shop sign and frowned. '_Maple and Birds? What the fuck is that? Is it an antique shop or something?_'

He shrugged and opened the door, wanting to get a better look at the doll in the chair. The whole place smelt weird... kind of like sugar but with a bit of a pine wood twist. It was oddly comforting for the albino. Place was dimly lit and there was lots of chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. There were also some puppets and wind chimes.

He smiled and walked over to the life size doll; it was wearing grey skinny jeans, black convers and a white fur vest. Its skin was very white but not as white as Gilbert's and his hair was short, choppy platinum blond. It looked like it was sleeping. It was really life like. Gilbert smirked and poked it. Suddenly the dolls eyes snapped open and jumped up.

Gilbert screamed and fell backwards... knocking over a vase on his way down. "HOLY SHIT!" Cried Gilbert as he sat up. "WHAT THE HELL? ARE YOU FREAKING CRAZY?"

The boy looked at him. He couldn't have been any older than sixteen. He tilted his head to the side and frowned. "Who are you?"

Before Gilbert could make a snappy comeback he heard footsteps coming from the back of the store. "Kuma?" Called a voice. "Kuma? What happened? Did something brake?" Suddenly the footsteps stopped and he heard a gasp. "Kuma! That vase is... was worth over seventy million dollars!"

The Kuma looked up at the voice and tilted his head in confusion. "Who are you?"

The voice sighed. "I'm... oh forget it... Just go get some fish or stack some boxes or something..."

Kuma shrugged and walked off. "Okay. But he broke the vase not me."

"HEY!" Cried Gilbert as he got to his feet. "I wouldn't have busted it if you didn't scare the shit out of me!" Gilbert dusted himself off and looked at the man that Kuma was talking to. His jaw dropped.

The man standing in front of him had shoulder length wavy blond hair, a curl that stuck up in the middle of his hair, lavender eyes framed in perfect round glasses. He was wearing a red hoddie with a maple leaf on it and baggy jeans. The man sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "So you broke the vase?" He asked. "You have any idea how difficult it was to get that and restore it to its original glory? Cost way more than an arm and a leg eh?"

Gilbert just looked at this man in disbelief. He looked and sounded just like Matthew but older. Not like super old just a few years older. Maybe mid to late twenties at the most. He looked away and gritted his teeth. "This isn't fair... This isn't fair."

The man pouted. "What? That you broke one of my vases? Tough kid. You're going to have to pay for it."

"It's not that." Hissed Gilbert. "Why do you have to look like him?"

The man frowned. "Look like who?" Gilbert shook his head and ran out of the shop. "HEY WAIT!" Cried the man as he ran to the door. "COME BACK!"

Kuma walked over to the door and frowned. "Who was that?"

The man sighed and shook his head. "I don't know... But because of him we're seventy million in the hole."

Kuma nodded and held up a phone. "Fell out of his pocket when he fell."

The man took it from Kuma's hands and checked the contact list. "Huh..." He walked over to the computer and typed in the home phone number. An address came up and the man nodded. He wrote down the address and walked outside.

"Where are you going?" Asked Kuma.

"To the Beilschmidt house." Said the man. "I need to give back the phone and settle this money thing. Close up while I'm gone okay?"

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Gilbert ran as far away from that place as he could. He eventually stopped running and leaned against a lamp post. His heart was beating in his ears. "Why? Why did he look so much like him? Shit am I going crazy?" His eyes became blurred and he could feel tears start to roll down his face.

He didn't want it to be true. He didn't want there to be someone out there that looked like his Matthew. He sat down on the side walk with his feet in the gutter. He pulled his legs close and rested his head on his legs. He just wanted to disappear. '_Just let the earth open underneath me and swallow me up... I don't want to be here anymore._'

He wasn't sure how long he was sitting there but by the time his tears were gone it was night time. He sighed and curled up tighter into himself. He knew they would be worried about him by now. But they hadn't called. Maybe Ludwig thought he was staying at a friend's house or something. He wouldn't have been surprised. Oh well tomorrow was Saturday. He could just sleep outside tonight.

He sifted closer to the lamp post and leaned against it. The metal was cold and stung a little against his skin but it was oddly soothing. He soon fell into a dreamlike state where he was neither awake now asleep but somewhere in between.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

"OH GOD! WAKE UP GILBERT!" Cried a frantic voice. Gilbert opened his eyes and looked at who yelling at him. He was looking directly into Antonio's eyes. Gilbert sighed and leaned against the lamp posts again.

"Five more minutes." He muttered. "We don't have school today."

Antonio let out a sigh of relief. "Sorry Gilbert but I need to get you home." He pulled Gilbert to his feet and helped him walk down the street. "Do you even know where you are or what time it is?"

Gilbert shrugged and rubbed his eyes. "Well... the suns starting to come up so I'd say early morning?"

Antonio nodded. "Si. But what were you thinking? Ludwig thought you were going home with us and we thought you were going home with him. You had us all worried amigo."

Gilbert shrugged. "Sorry. Ludwig was tutoring Feliciano yesterday and you guys had already left so I walked home."

"Looks like you got a little lost." Said Antonio. "We didn't even know you were missing until that man came by with your phone. Said you dropped it."

Gilbert nodded. "So that's why no one called. Wait what did this man look like?"

Antonio shrugged. "I don't know. Your grandpa was the only one home at the time so he's the one that saw him. Francis and I were just asked to help look for you."

"I see..." Muttered Gilbert. He knew that there could only be one person that could possibly have his phone. That guy from that shop that looked like Matthew. He clenched his fists and growled. "That bastard had my phone."

Antonio frowned. "What?"

"That son of a bitch had my phone!" Cried Gilbert. "That bastard from that shop! Why the hell would he have my fucking phone? Stupid thing must have fallen out... bastard... I... shit..." His vision started to blur again and he could feel his heart rate speeding up again. He wanted to stop thinking about that man. He needed a distraction. He still had the razor in his pocket. But he wouldn't be able to do anything while Antonio was with him. But he needed release now. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and searched for the razor. Once he had found it he ran his finger tip over the blade. It isn't enough to make him forget but it is enough to dull the sting of remembering until he could get a greater release.

He didn't notice Antonio get out his phone to text Francis or Ludwig that he had found him. "Let's head back to your place okay Gilbert? Then you can have a proper sleep."

"Sound like a plan." Mumbled Gilbert. He careful sliced open another finger and had to bite his tongue to hold back a cry of pain. By the time they had gotten back to Gilbert's house the sun was up and people were starting to emerge from their houses. Gilbert's house was quite grand in size; a two story house with minimal decoration or anything of the sort on the outside. It was just grey in colour. It reminded Gilbert of a prison despite its elegant appearance.

Antonio opened the door and Gilbert quickly bolted inside. He ran to his room and shut the door behind him. Even if he couldn't lock the door he could still barricade himself inside. He pushed his desk in front of it just a Ludwig tried to open the door. "Gilbert move the desk! We need to talk!"

"Nothing to talk about!" Snapped Gilbert. "I was going to go home with you but you couldn't take me and Francis and Antonio thought you were taking me home... Why the hell are we even talking about this? I can take care of myself!"

"... I wish I could believe that."

Gilbert growled and punched the wall. "DAMN IT LUDWIG! WHY CAN'T EVERYONE JUST FUCK OFF AND LEAVE ME ALONE? I'M FUCKING FINE! I JUST GOT A LITTLE LOST! THAT'S ALL!"

"Well once you've calmed down grandpa wants to see you... Something about a broken vase?"

"... SHIT!" He pushed the desk away and poked his head out. Ludwig was standing there with his arms crossed. "How mad was he?"

"Very." Said Ludwig. "You know that thing he does where he taps a pen against a table when he's really pissed?"

"Yes?"

"The pen was snapped in half."

"Oh shit." He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. "I'll see him in a bit... right now I need to sleep... Tell Francis and Antonio to go home. They need some sleep to."

Ludwig sighed. "I will."

Gilbert nodded. "And Ludwig... Thanks for looking out for me."

Ludwig nodded. "You're my brother. I'll always look out for you."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Around midday Gilbert was nervously sitting in his grandfather's study. He had no idea what was going to happen. He just sat there and ran his thumb over the cuts on his fingertips He wished that the lecture he was bound to have would just happen already. The suspense was killing him.

Soon his grandfather walked in. In Gilbert's opinion he looked like a buff Legolas with his long blond hair and blue eyes and maybe the fact he did some archery back in the day also made him think that. "Seventeen million dollars... Seventeen million dollars... How the hell did you manage to break a seventeen million dollar vase?"

Gilbert shrugged and kept his eyes glued to the floor. "I don't know." He whispered. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry isn't going to pay back that vase Gilbert." Said his grandfather in a monotone voice. Gilbert hated it when he talked like that. He would rather he raised his voice and screamed like a normal person would when they found out their grandson destroyed an expensive vase. "Luckily for you the owner of the shop was understanding and has we decided that you can work off the money in his shop."

Gilbert's head snapped up. "WHAT? YOU WANT ME TO WORK IN HIS SHOP? ARE YOU CRAZY? NO WAY IN HELL!"

"Can you think of another way to pay it off?" Asked his grandfather. "If you have a better idea I would love to hear it. Please enlighten me Gilbert. I'm all ears."

Well that had him. Gilbert had no idea how he could pay back the money legally... But if he had some guns, some explosives and the blue prints to a bank he could easily get that money. But seeing as how he didn't have any of those. "I don't have any ideas..." He muttered.

His grandfather nodded. "I didn't think so. Starting Monday you will be working at Maple and Birds. If there the owner calls me for any reason you will be in severe trouble. Do you understand me?"

"Yes..." Muttered Gilbert.

"I didn't hear you."

"Yes sir!" Said Gilbert a little louder. "What the hell is this guy's name anyway?"

His grandfather shrugged. "He said to just call him Canada."

Gilbert frowned. '_Canada huh? I hate him so freaking much right now._'

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **So what do you all think? PLEASE REVIEW!


	3. Not Porn! Pawn! With an A!

**Shinigami-cat: **I realized I made a mistake in the last chapter but I'm too lazy to change it. Gilbert broke a seventy million dollar vase. Not a seventeen million dollar one... I OWN NOTHING!

**Not Porn! Pawn! With an A!**

The water around his feet turned a bright crimson red and his shaking breath echoed around the room with the warm spray of the shower. Pain was Gilbert's only release. Grandfather stressing him out? Cut. Assignments becoming too much? Cut. Got a bad grade? Cut. Life seems too hard? Cut. People making life difficult? Cut. Just stressed in general? Cut.

"Damn I think that's infected." He hissed as he poked a reddish green scab on his arm. A little bit of puss came out of his confirming his suspicions. "Fuck! I thought I cleaned it properly damn it!" He turned off the water and quickly dried himself off with a towel. If there was one thing he couldn't stand it was infected cuts. It too twice as long to heal and sometimes it stung for days on end. Kind of annoying if you are trying to get to sleep.

He grabbed some antiseptic from the medicine cabinet and frowned. It wasn't the usual stuff. It was some stuff called Betadine and it came in some kind of drip bottle thing. He put a drop on his finger and sniffed it. He gagged. '_HOLY SHIT! What the hell? That stuff stinks worse than the usual stuff! This is like earwax and chlorine in one sick combo!_' He shook the drop off his finger and gasped. There was a yellowish brown mark on his finger. '_THE HELL? THE OTHER STUFF WAS CLEAR! WHAT IS THIS?_' He quickly washed his hands but the stain was still there. '_FML!_'

He grabbed a scrubbing brush and some soap and started scrubbing. If someone was watching him they would think he was trying to sand off his finger. "Get off." He hissed. "Get off. Get off. Get off. Get off. Get off. Get off. Get off. Get off." By the time he had gotten rid of the odd colour his finger was scrubbed raw. When he was done he sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "What now? If I use this shit Ludwig and grandpa will know I cut. They'll be able to smell it on me... Screw it."

He peppered his arms with the antiseptic before covering his arms in bandages and pulling on a black long sleeved shirt and a pair of ripped red skinny jeans. He was now ready to go to work at Maple and Birds. He walked out of the bathroom and into his room to grab some shoes. Even though it was a Monday he didn't go to school because he had an appointment with his psychiatrist. Gilbert had hoped that when they found out about being forced to work in that shop they would say that he couldn't but apparently his psychiatrist was thrilled. Something about jobs help make people feel like they belong or some shit like that. Well that just sucks.

He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. He really didn't want to do this. He would rather swallow razor blades then go there but he had no choice. He walked down to the kitchen and grabbed a can of coke. He looked at the clock and sighed. School would be over by now. Almost as if to confirm he was right Ludwig walked through the door followed by Antonio and Francis.

Francis and Antonio walked straight into the kitchen with huge smiles on their faces. Gilbert frowned. "What?"

Francis grinned. "You broke a vase."

"A very expensive vase." Said Antonio.

"That's not cool guys!" Whined Gilbert. "I didn't mean to! It was an accident! That dumb ass kid made me knock it over!"

Francis laughed. "Of course Gilbert! Blame the kid. Come on Antonio and I are dropping you off."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

They took Francis's car down to the shops and parked it in the street. Gilbert was absolutely loathing that shop. The atmosphere was heavy and dark you could cut it with a knife. Antonio looked over at Gilbert and sighed. "Hey when you broke the vase did the owner yell at you?"

Gilbert sighed and looked out the window. "No."

Francis chuckled. "I wonder if the owner is cute."

Gilbert felt like he was going to be sick. "No fucking way Francis! If you go anywhere near that bastard I'll kill you!"

Francis laughed and got out. "Don't worry Gilbert. I'll stay away from you big bad boss!"

"Shut up!" Snapped Gilbert. He got out of the car and walked over to the shop. "My boss is a fucking dick!"

"But you don't even know him." Said Antonio.

"I don't care!" Snapped Gilbert as he pushed open the door. It was pretty much as quiet as yesterday. Francis and Antonio were amazed at the design and décor of that place.

Francis immediately walked over to a manikin decked out in splendid Georgian era clothes of the highest quality. "Wow... This is... This is..."

"Amazing..." Said Antonio with wide eyes. He was looking wide eyes at a battle axe that was hung up on the wall. It was shining and gleaming spectacularly against the mahogany wall. He just wanted to reach out and touch it.

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. This place is amazing now shut up."

Suddenly Kuma walked out from the back of the shop. He was wearing the exact same thing as he was yesterday and carrying a long, large box. He put it on the counter and frowned. "You break it you buy it."

Gilbert frowned and walked over to Kuma. "Hey Kuma. Where's the boss?"

Kuma tilted his head to the side and frowned. "Who?"

"The boss." Deadpanned Gilbert. "You know... blond hair, purple eyes?"

Kuma looked up and pointed to the ceiling. "Fixing a leak." Suddenly there was a loud crash and a small explosion upstairs causing the boys to jump. Kuma just sighed. "Making a leak... Be back soon." Kuma walked out of the room and upstairs.

Francis raised his eyebrows. "You new boss seems clumsy."

"You think he lives here?" Asked Antonio.

"I don't' care." Snapped Gilbert. "I want as little to do with him a possible!"

"What do you have against him?" Asked Antonio.

"When you see this guy you'll know." Growled Gilbert.

A few seconds later Kuma came back with a step ladder. He put it next to the wall and used it to get the battle axe from wall. He quickly packed it into the box and stuck a label on it. It said: _To Spain. _Antonio pouted. He really liked the look of that battle axe now he wouldn't see it again.

Kuma sighed and looked at the three boys in front of him. "Who are you?"

"I'm Gilbert." Said Gilbert. "You know the guy you freaked out and knocked over the vase?"

"Who?"

Gilbert was slightly annoyed that Kuma couldn't remember him. "Gilbert Beilschmidt."

Kuma nodded. "Oh." He ducked under the counter and came back up with a floral apron. "Put this on. We're dusting today."

Antonio and Francis giggled at Gilbert's new work apron. Gilbert just glared at them with pure hatred. "You two can fuck off."

Francis pouted. "But I wanted to see your new boss."

Gilbert just flipped them the bird. "Just get out." Francis and Antonio chuckled and wished Gilbert good luck as they left the shop. As soon as they were gone Gilbert put the apron down on the counter and turned back to Kuma. "Okay so what now?"

Kuma turned and walked towards the back of the shop. "Follow."

Gilbert shrugged and followed Kuma into the back of the shop. The first thing he saw was a kitchen... a freaking kitchen and a washing machine and a dryer... and his new boss Canada standing in front of said dryer wearing nothing but a pair of baggy jeans. For a moment Gilbert let his eyes wander all down the Canadians back; water slowly trickled from his damp hair and ran down his well-toned back and disappeared down into his butt crack which was just peeking above the pants. He had a blue fluffy towel in his hands and began to dry his hair. Gilbert's face went bright red.

Kuma walked up to him and poked him in the side. The Canadian yelped and jumped back. "Kumakaki! Don't do that!"

"He's here." Said Kuma.

Canada turned around and gasped. Gilbert's eyes went wide as he looked at the tattoo plastered across Canada's chest. It wasn't anything in particular. Just an interesting pattern in the shape of a maple leaf fight there on his chest. They looked a little like vines. Canada blushed and quickly wrapped the towel around his torso. "Gil-Gilbert!" He cried. "I um... I was trying to fix the sink upstairs and it broke! I got soaked and that was my only clean shirt so I was just using the dryer!"

Gilbert nodded and looked away. '_Fuck... If it wasn't for the tattoo he would look just like him..._'

Kuma shrugged and walked off. Canada frowned. "Hey where are you going?"

"Sleep." Muttered Kuma as he disappeared upstairs.

Canada sighed and opened up the dryer. He quickly pulled on a dark blue shirt and shook his head. "I wish Kumatacco would stay awake for more than two seconds..."

"I thought his name was Kumakaki." Said Gilbert.

Canada shook his head. "No his name is Kumacabra."

Gilbert nodded. "Okay then..." Obviously Canada had some memory problems.

Canada turned into the kitchen and grabbed some bacon. "Do you want anything?"

Gilbert frowned and rolled his eyes. Why the hell was Canada being so nice to him? It was infuriating. He just wanted to pull out his hair and break something. "No." He hissed.

Canada sighed and shrugged. He put a pan on the stove and poured some oil into it. He turned on the stove and pulled a container out of the fridge. A few seconds later the room was filled with the smell of bacon. Gilbert stomach started to growl. Canada smiled and chuckled. "Sounds like you're hungry eh?"

"Shut up!" Snapped Gilbert. "The only reason I'm here is because I broke a fucking vase that was way overpriced!"

Canada laughed and put some of the bacon on a plate. "That vase was a one of a kind 285BC Shimon original. Made by crushing animal bone, mixing it with clay, put in a fire for exactly a week, pained with ceramic paints and fired for a full month. It was called a Shimon because the monks of the Shimon order of the Mi Ping dynasty made them. When I first found it the vase was chipped in one place and it took me three years to save up enough money to get that repaired. That vase is not overpriced. If anything it is under priced by a few million dollars."

Gilbert's eyes went wide and his jaw dropped. "What?"

Canada nodded and put more bacon on the plate. "Yeah... Well I know it seems like a stupid amount but it that's just how it is. I don't decide how much things are. That's just how things are." When he finished frying up the bacon he put it down on the table. "If you want some you can have some." He grabbed some and popped it in his mouth.

Gilbert sighed and grabbed some bacon and ate it. '_Bastard. I don't even want to eat this... Damn this is good bacon._'

Canada smiled and leaned against the sink. "So what year are you in?"

"None of your fucking business." Snapped Gilbert.

Canada shrugged and held up his hands in defence. "Alright! Don't bite my head off. I was just asking a question."

Gilbert glared at him. "Yeah right. Let's just get this over with." He didn't feel like eating. Canada sighed and walked over to the stairs. "Hey Kuma! There's bacon on the table if you want it!"

"Who?"

"Canada! The guy you live with! Then one who feeds you!"

"Oh... Not hungry!"

Canada face palmed and groaned. "Well it's there if you want it!" He turned back to Gilbert with a smile on his face. "Okay then... I'll show you around... So this is the kitchen and basic living area. Upstairs is my room, Kuma's room and the second bathroom. You won't need to go up there at all. Okay?"

Gilbert nodded. "Got it..." So Canada and Kuma did live here. "Is Kuma your brother or something?"

Canada shook his head. "It's complicated... Come I'll show you the rest of the shop." He walked over to a large tapestry of a flaming eagle; it was black with flaming red eyes, wings stretched out, and flames licking the golden border that elegantly snaked its way around the eagle. It was oddly familiar. Maybe Gilbert had seen it in a book or something. Canada pulled the tapestry away to revile a large wooden door. He opened it and walked inside. Gilbert quickly followed. There was a long wide hallway leading down and winding down a corner.

Gilbert's jaw dropped. "How the hell?"

Canada chuckled. "Just very careful planning. Now come on I need to show you were everything is." He pointed to several doors and smiled. "Jars are in there, animal furs, tin toys, regular toys, dolls, weapons, clothes, gems and jewels, live animals and that's it."

Gilbert's eyes went wide. "You keep live animals?"

Canada shrugged. "Only when clients order them."

"What is this place anyway?"

Canada shrugged. "A pawn shop."

Gilbert's jaw dropped. "A PORN SHOP?"

Canada's eyes went wide and his face went bright red. "What? No! It's pawn not porn! With an A not an O! Please clean out your ears!"

Gilbert smirked. "Good. 'Cause I was gonna say..."

Canada sighed and the blush on his cheeks slowly faded. "That's okay... It's easy to get confused... Though I don't see how... I sell pottery and antique things. It's just... Such a vivid imagination."

Gilbert chuckled. "Whatever you say Birdie."

Canada frowned. "Birdie?"

Gilbert's eyes went wide and he looked away. '_Birdie... why did I call him that? I shouldn't have said anything... Only Matthew can be called Birdie... and he... He's dead... This thing isn't Birdie and he never will be... I'm sorry I called him that Birdie. I never meant to..._'

Pressure on his shoulder made Gilbert snap out of his daze. He looked up into Canada's large concerned eyes. It gave Gilbert butterflies "Gilbert? Are you okay? You're shaking."

Gilbert glared at him and pushed Canada away. "Don't fucking touch me." He spat. "Don't act like you care about me. All you care about is your fucking money. If I hadn't have broken that stupid vase I wouldn't have had to see your stupid face and I wouldn't have to be reminded of... Just don't touch me. You can go and die for all I care!"

Canada jumped back and sighed. "Sorry... I didn't mean to scare you... I... I just... never mind..." He turned and walked past Gilbert back to the kitchen. "Kuma can show you what to do... I'm just going to go and buy more food... I cooked the last of it..."

Gilbert growled and ran his fingers threw his hair. '_Shit... I didn't mean to bite his head off..._' Suddenly Kuma was standing next to him with some bacon in his mouth and two dusters in his hands.

"Work." He muttered.

Gilbert sighed and grabbed one of the dusters. "Okay..."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Kuma took Gilbert into a large room filled with different bottles. They were dusting and scrubbing them clean. But after two minutes Kuma was curled up on the floor yawning. Gilbert on the other hand was looking through boxes of stuff. "So how long have you two been here?"

Kuma rolled onto his back and sighed. "Don't know... A while I guess... I don't like the sea. It brings back bad memories."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"

"The reason we were forced to come here in the first place." Said Kuma. "That guy didn't want us to go either but we had to."

"What are you talking about?"

Kuma sat up and shrugged. "Just old stuff... Old painful stuff." He looked up at the roof and sighed. "Once the place where we lived was so beautiful..." He whispered. "Then for some selfish adult reason everything just ended. So many died for a lost cause... destroyed by a nation devoted to God or so he claimed."

Gilbert frowned. "What are you talking about?"

Kuma looked up at Gilbert and frowned. "Who are you?"

"GILBERT!"

Kuma frowned. "No need to yell."

Gilbert sighed and shook his head. "Whatever... What's with Canada anyway? That can't be his real name."

Kuma shrugged. "If he says that's his name then that's his name."

Gilbert pouted. "That can't be his name!"

"Why not?"

"Because Canada's a country!" Snapped Gilbert. "It isn't a name!"

"It's his name." Said Kuma defensively. "If he says that that is his name than that's his name."

"God you're impossible!" Snapped Gilbert.

"Who are you?"

Gilbert's eye began to twitch. "MOTHER FUCKER MY NAME IS GILBERT! G.I.L.B.E.R.T! GILBERT! GILBERT! GILBERT! WERE YOU DROP KICKED INTO A WALL WHEN YOU WERE BORN?" Kuma frowned and walked out of the room. "HEY GET BACK HERE!" He ran out into the hall way straight into Canada who happened to be carrying a box of cleaning rags. Needless to say everything went flying everywhere and Gilbert ended up on top of Canada.

Gilbert froze. His heart began to race. He was looking directly into Canada's eyes. He felt spell bound. Trapped. What the hell was this feeling deep inside? It was a mix pain, anger and love. It hurt so much but he couldn't look away. He couldn't move. '_What the hell is wrong with me?_'

Canada reached up and touched Gilbert's face. "Why are you crying?" Gilbert blinked and touched his face. He was indeed crying. Canada sat up and grabbed Gilbert's wrist. "Did you hurt yourself?"

Gilbert bit his lip. Canada was touching the cuts. "I'm fine." He hissed. Canada frowned and pulled up Gilbert's sleeve to revel the bandages. Gilbert's eyes went wide and he tried to pull his arm away from Canada. "LET ME GO RIGHT NOW! I HATE YOU! I FREAKING HATE YOU! LET ME GO! LET ME GO RIGHT NOW!"

Canada didn't let go. Instead he ran his fingertips along the bandages and sighed. "How long have you been doing this to yourself? Cutting is such a horrible thing to do to yourself."

Gilbert pulled his arm away from Canada and pulled the sleeve back down. "Like I'd tell you! Fuck off and mind your own business! This has nothing to do with you! I hate you!"

Canada frowned. "Okay then. Hate me."

"Huh?"

"Hate me but don't hate yourself. Cutting won't make the pain go away."

Gilbert growled and stood up. "What do you know? You don't me. You don't know why I do it. You have no right to lecture me! You don't give a shit about me! Stay the hell away from me!"

Canada glared at Gilbert. "You don't know me either Gilbert. But you're right. I don't know you. I don't know why you cut. I have no right to lecture you. But for some ungodly reason feel a little something called compassion and empathy. Maybe it's because I'm human?"

Gilbert could feel his anger building up inside. "Fuck you! I'm going home!"

"Good!" Snapped Canada. "I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Not if I can help it." Hissed Gilbert.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Gilbert closed his eyes and dropped the blade. He didn't care that his once white bed sheets were now crimson with his blood. He breathed heavily and let the dark voices surround him.

_Fool._

_Moron._

_Just die already! No one cares!_

_You're just a monster! Nothing but that!_

_DIE!_

_Just die!_

_Death is the only thing you are good for!_

Gilbert chuckled darkly. "I know... I know... But I'm in too much pain to live, but it's not enough to die..."

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Yeah... Please review?


	4. pocket watch

**Shinigami-cat: **Well I hope this chapter works out alright... The song used is _Dark Waltz _by Hayley Westenra... I OWN NOTHING!

**pocket watch**

Gilbert sighed as he walked down the steps. Vines slowly wrapped around the banisters like snakes and the cool night air ran through his hair. From where he was standing he could out into the ballroom. Broad trees stretched up into the sky creating a dome that was equal to that of a cathedral in elegance and beauty.

A small weedy girl in a long black dress was standing alone on the stage with her violin. She lifted it up to her shoulder and began to play a haunting tune. It tugged at Gilbert heart to hear it. He looked down at the crowd of people laughing and dancing. They seemed to swirl and twist into a blur of black and grey. All except for one who seemed to stand out from the crowd.

He seemed to be dancing by himself in the middle of everyone. Gilbert couldn't understand why. He was the only one that seemed to stand out in his dark blue suit and bright blond hair. He seemed to shine like a diamond. Gilbert quickly moved through the crowd of swirling black to get to him.

Gilbert reached out and grabbed the boy's shoulder and turned him around. The boys eyes were a beautiful violet mixed with a hint of blue. Gilbert took the boys hand and bowed. "May I have this dance Birdie?"

_We are the lucky ones  
>We shine like a thousand suns<br>When all of the colour runs together  
><em>

Matthew laughed and kissed Gilbert's hand. "Of course Gilbert." With one hand on Matthew's waist Gilbert spun him into a waltz. As they danced Matthew rested his head on Gilbert's chest and sighed.

"What's wrong Birdie?" Asked Gilbert

Matthew looked up at Gilbert with his bright shining eyes. "Why did it take you so long to find me? I've been waiting for you for so long."

Gilbert kissed Matthew's forehead and sighed. "I'm sorry Matthew... But I won't leave you again."

_I'll keep you company  
>In one glorious harmony<br>Waltzing with destiny forever  
><em>

Matthew smiled up at Gilbert. "Thank you Gilbert. I never want you to leave me again. But when this dance is over..." Matthew looked away from Gilbert and rested his head against his chest again.

Gilbert frowned. "Matthew? What happens when this dance is over?"

_Dance me into the night  
>Underneath the moon shining so bright<br>Turning me into the light  
><em>

Matthew bit his lip and frowned. "When this dance is over I have to go."

Gilbert froze slightly but continued to dance. "What happens when this is over? Where will you go?"

"Where everyone goes when they disappear." Whispered Matthew mournfully. "I don't have a choice... I just have to when we stop dancing."

"Then we won't stop." Said Gilbert. "We can dance forever."

_Time dancers whirling past  
>I gaze through the looking glass<br>And feel just beyond my grasp is heaven  
><em>

Matthew smiled. "I'd like that Gilbert."

_Sacred geometry  
>Where movement is poetry<br>Visions of you and me forever  
><em>

Spinning and twirling around and around in circles. The dark dresses on the girls flowered out spinning, twirling and melting together in continues darkness that clung together. It all seemed so surreal and perfect yet tragic at the same time. Gilbert pulled Matthew close and clung to him. He would never let Matthew go again.

"Forever." Muttered Gilbert. "Let's stay together forever."

Matthew chuckled. "Remember when we said we would move to Canada."

"I won the coin toss." Said Gilbert. "We were moving to Germany."

"But I can't speak German." Said Matthew.

"And I can't speak French." Said Gilbert.

Matthew chuckled. "They have an English speaking part too! Besides I like it there, and I've never been to Germany."

"Then I would take you on a tour." Said Gilbert. "And I would teach you how to speak enough German to get by."

_Dance me into the night  
>Underneath the moon shining so bright<br>Turning me into the light  
><em>

Matthew laughed happily and looked up at the tree branches. He seemed mesmerized by the beauty of it all. His eye shone brightly and smiled. "It's so pretty... The moon is just so bright."

_Dance me into the night  
>Underneath the moon shining so bright<br>_

Gilbert kept his eyes on Matthew and nodded. "Yeah... It lights up the whole place." He smiled and stroked Matthew's hair. "It shines only for you."

"How cheesy." Said Matthew.

_Let the dark waltz begin  
>Oh let me wheel, let me spin<br>Let it take me again  
>Turning me into the light<em>

The girl with the violin played the last note and disappeared in a swirl of black smoke. Slowly one by one the other dancers faded away into darkness leaving Matthew and Gilbert dancing alone to nothing. Gilbert couldn't look away from Matthew, lest he disappear like the other dancers. Matthew looked up at Gilbert with a pained look in his eyes. "I have to go now Gilbert."

Gilbert frowned. "Please don't do this Matthew... This hurts so much."

"It hurts me to." Whispered Matthew. "Just close your eyes and count to four."

Gilbert stroked Matthew's cheek. It was ice cold. "I'm sorry for everything Matthew. My Birdie. My everything."

Matthew nodded and smiled half-heartedly. "Please Gilbert... It hurts me when you say that... Just close your eyes and count for me, please?"

Gilbert sighed and closed his eyes. "One, two, three, four."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Gilbert opened his eyes and groaned. He was looking up at the ceiling of his room. Another night another dream of Matthew. His sweet, perfect Matthew. He sighed and looked at his alarm clock. The time was about six in the morning. He groaned and sat up. There was dried blood on his arm from where he cut the night before and his bed sheets were stained red. "Shit... I need some bleach or something..."

He got up and quickly grabbed the blood stained items and silently walked down to the laundry room. He quickly put the sheets into the washing machine and threw in some bleach and washing powder. While that was happening he made his way to the bathroom to clean his arm. He didn't like dry blood. It was a pain to get out of clothes and a pain to get off cuts.

He sighed and looked at his newly bandaged arms. '_Cutting won't make the pain go away... What does he know? He's just some freak who runs a pawn shop._' With that thought in mind he went back to his room to get dressed. There was no way in hell he was getting back to sleep.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Francis and Antonio were laughing and chatting to each other at their table while eating their lunch. Gilbert just sighed. He hadn't even touched his food yet. Francis pouted and poked Gilbert's face. "What's wrong Gilbert? You haven't touched your food yet."

"I don't feel like eating." Said Gilbert. "Don't really feel like doing much at all really..."

Antonio and Francis shared worried looks. "There has to be something you want to do." Said Antonio. "Want a tomato?"

Gilbert sighed. "No Antonio... I don't want a tomato." He frowned and rested his head in his hands. "I had a dream about him last night."

Francis nodded knowingly. "Which one?"

"The one where we are dancing." Said Gilbert. "I hate it. I can only meet him in my dreams. It's almost like he's haunting me!"

Antonio sighed. "That's just silly. He wouldn't haunt you."

"Sure as hell feels like it." Growled Gilbert.

"Hey tonight after you're finished at the shop why don't you come out with us?" Asked Francis. "There's a party a Vash's house."

Gilbert frowned. "Vash? Isn't he that kid that dose paintball all the freaking time and hates anyone going near his sister?"

"That's the one." Said Francis. "And everyone is going to be there."

"Even him?" Growled Gilbert in disgust. "If he goes I'm not."

Antonio tilted his head in confusion. "Who are you talking about?"

"He who must not be named." Hissed Gilbert.

Antonio's eyes went wide. "Voldemort?" Five seconds later Antonio was kicked out of his chair. "Ouch! What was that for?"

"You know who I'm talking about." Hissed Gilbert. "Alfred. Matthew's brother. He still hates me for what happened you idiot."

"He can't still blame you." Said Francis. "You just didn't want to go."

"That's why he blames me." Said Gilbert. "If I just said yes and went with him..."

Francis slammed his hand down on the table. "NO! You are not going to talk about it Gilbert. You are not going to think about it. You know if you do you will want to cut again!"

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "I've been cutting for so long now it seems like a regular part of my day now. So you can shut the fuck up Francis or go find some random drunk person to fuck. I don't give a shit."

Antonio frowned. "That's horrible Gilbert. Cutting shouldn't be a regular part of life."

"Well it is for me." Hissed Gilbert. "Why don't you just shut the fuck up and go molest that fuck face Italian."

Francis and Antonio frowned. "Think before you speak Gilbert." Said Francis. "We have been doing out bet to help you and you just act like a brat! Even friends have their limits! You can't keep acting like this!"

Gilbert sighed. "I know... Yesterday was just stressful... My boss found out that I cut."

Antonio gasped. "Did he tell your grandfather? What did he say? You weren't bleeding out in the bathroom were you? That's horrible!"

"Relax Antonio." Said Gilbert. "I wasn't cutting. He pulled my sleeve up and saw my bandages."

Francis frowned thoughtfully. "What did he say?"

"He just told me not to cut." Said Gilbert. "He said it wouldn't make the pain go away. What the hell does he know? He's just a creep that owns a pawn shop."

"I take it you are still working for him?" Asked Francis.

"What do you think?" Snapped Gilbert. "I'll be working for that dick forever!"

Francis rolled his eyes and sighed. "So what now? Are you going to come with us to this party?"

Gilbert shrugged. "Fine. Pick me up after work. I end at about seven..."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

"AHHHHHHH!" Cried Gilbert as he got buried under a pile of clothes. Canada just shook his head and sighed.

"How hard is it to get a vest?" He asked.

Gilbert growled and sat up. "Shut up! That stupid vest was right at the bottom of the fucking pile! You fucking suck!"

Matthew shrugged, picked up the vest he was after and dusted it off. "Well fold up the rest of the clothes and go help Kuma buff some metal plates." He draped the vest over his arm and walked out of the room. Gilbert growled and began to fold up the clothes and shove them back in the wardrobe where they came from.

'_Why the hell are there so many dresses? And why the hell are they so freaking frilly? AHHHHHHH! How the hell do you fold this?_' He felt like he was going to kill someone. Dresses were such a hassle, especially the really big bell shaped ones. What was with dresses back then? You could hide someone under one of those things if you wanted to... Maybe he would test that later...

Eventually he had finished putting everything away. "Finally... Where the hell does he get all this stuff?" He closed the door to the wardrobe and heard something clink. "Huh?" He frowned and looked down. There was a small gold chain sticking out from under the wardrobe. He kneeled down and pulled at it. "Huh? A pocket watch?"

It was indeed a pocket watch. It was small, golden and round. It had an intricate design of an eagle engraved onto it. He turned it over in his hands and frowned. This seemed oddly familiar... He had no idea why it just did. He opened it and had a look at the clock face. Small black enamel hands moved around the spotless white face of the clock. It kept perfect time. Gilbert smiled a little. '_Must have fallen out of one of the pockets or something... Looks expensive._'

"Cool." He slipped the watch into his pocket and went to find Kuma. It wasn't that hard. Kuma was sitting in the kitchen with a bunch of rusted looking metal plates and a polishing rag. He sat down across from Kuma and started to polish.

Kuma looked at him and frowned. "Who are you?"

"GILBERT!" Screamed Gilbert.

Kuma shrugged and went back to buffing. Gilbert just rolled his eyes and started listening to his iPod. A little bit of Hollywood Undead always brightens up the mood... maybe not... But still who cares? It's his fucking iPod. After what felt like forever he took the watch out of his pocket and looked at it again. It was so light. Suddenly Canada snatched it out of his hand. "HEY!" Cried Gilbert. "I was looking at that!"

Canada frowned and looked at the watch. "Where did you find this?" He asked.

"Under the wardrobe. I think it fell out of the pocket of something there." Said Gilbert. "Is it valuable?"

Canada sighed and shook his head. "Not really... I mean it's gold plated and lots of gloss has been applied to the enamel but it's pretty much worthless. But it has sentimental value... I've been looking for this for a while actually. I thought I lost it."

"So it's yours?" Asked Gilbert.

Canada shook his head. "No. I'm just minding it for someone... But I doubt they will ever come back for it."

Gilbert frowned. "Why?"

Canada smiled half-heartedly. "He's dead. I watched him die..."

Gilbert's eyes went wide. "You watched someone die?"

Canada nodded. "Yeah... He drowned."

Gilbert froze, his mouth went dry and a chill ran down his spine. "Drowned? As in drowned, drowned."

Canada nodded. "Yeah... They fell off a cliff and fell into the sea. That's kind of why I open a shop by the sea. To be closer to them you know?"

As much as Gilbert hated to admit it he understood what he meant. "Yeah... A friend of mine disappeared near the ocean... I sometimes go there to be closer to him..."

Canada nodded. "I see... is that why you cut?"

Gilbert growled and shook his head. "FUCK YOU! I DON'T WANNA TALK TO YOU ABOUT THAT! JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP! I FUCKING HATE YOU!"

Canada sighed and put the watch in his pocket. "I get it already. Go dust some of the cabinets up the front when you've calmed down." With that he walked upstairs.

Gilbert pouted and grabbed a dust rag. He walked into the front of the shop and started to mumble curses under his breath. '_Shit... why the hell did I tell him about Matthew? FUCK!_' He started to dust off a cabinet and sighed. '_So the sea took something from both of us huh? Weird... I wonder who he lost. I know it was his friend but what kind of friend? Best friend? Friend? Girlfriend? Boyfriend? Friend with benefits?_' He chuckled and shook his head. '_Canada doesn't seem like someone who gets booty calls._'

"Excuse me but is this Canada's shop?" Asked a voice.

Gilbert turned around and frowned. Standing there was a Taiwanese girl in what looked like fantasy cosplay. Complete with black cat ears, tail and yellow cat eye contacts. "Um... Yeah..."

The cat girl smiled and tilted her head causing some of her long black hair to fall over her face. "You aren't Kumajiro... How did Canada acquire you?"

Gilbert frowned. "Acquire me?"

She nodded. "Yes. Did he find you or were you bought?"

"BOUGHT?" Cried Gilbert. "WHAT THE HELL?"

Suddenly Canada walked into the room and put his hand on Gilbert's shoulder. "Mai." He said. "It's been a while. For what do I owe this pleasure? This is Gilbert by the way. A local boy." He added emphasis on local.

Mai nodded. "I see... I need to speak to you about..." She glanced at Gilbert. "Maybe we could talk somewhere less crowded?"

Canada nodded. "Of course. Please follow me." Canada led Mai out of the room and into the back of the shop.

Gilbert frowned. "The hell? What the fuck? What was that woman on about? Bought? I'm pretty sure human trafficking is illegal in most countries these days."

"Depends on where you go." Said Francis as he walked through the front door. "Do you think prostitution could be considered human trafficking if they are whored out against their will?"

Gilbert shrugged. "Maybe. Is it seven already?"

"Yep." Said Francis. "Are you ready to go?"

"One second." Gilbert walked into the back of the shop where Kuma was still. "Hey Kuma I'm going now."

"Who are you?"

"Fuck you Kumajiro." Snapped Gilbert. He turned and walked back to the front of the shop. "Ready to go." Francis grinned and led Gilbert to his car, where Antonio was waiting in the back seat playing angry birds on his iPhone.

Gilbert jumped into the passenger seat and sighed. Antonio looked up from his game and beamed. "So how was work?"

"I don't work." Said Gilbert. "People who work get payed. What I'm doing is child labour!"

Antonio chuckled and continued to play his game. "Well at least you're out of the house."

"I still want money damn it!" Snapped Gilbert. "Money makes the world go round!"

"No it's love!" Said Francis. "Love makes the world go round!"

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Love is just for idiots who have nothing better to do with their time. People with no ambition or dive left... stupid people... It makes me sick when I see stupid couples wasting time with each other. Every relationship always ends up in heart break... Even couples that go into old age... One will die and leave the other. Love is for suckers."

"You used to be one of those suckers not too long ago." Said Francis.

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Yeah... then I got a reality check. Love never has nor ever will exist in this world."

Antonio frowned. "That's not true. When I'm with Lovi I feel all happy and bubbly inside. He makes me really happy. If that isn't love then what is?"

"Ah but you see Antonio you are an idiot." Said Gilbert. "Love is a concept you think exists so you believe in it. Francis has nothing better to do with his time so he thinks that weird tingling sensation he gets in his crotch when he sees someone pretty is love. But I've opened my eyes and now I see the truth."

Antonio shrugged. "If I have to be an idiot to be in love then I hope I keep up with my C average."

"Agreed." Said Francis. "Life is meaningless without love."

"Monks and Nuns don't believe in love." Said Gilbert.

"Yes they do." Said Antonio. "They just choose to not have sex."

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Oh shut up."

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Well... please review?


	5. Party rock anthem

**Shinigami-cat: **Well sorry it took so long. My brain just didn't want to work. It just kind of shut down for a few days. It's all like I don't wanna work! Go figure out how to use your fucking deviantart account already! But I was like... Screw that. I'll just look at some pictures and watch YouTube until I get those creative juices flowing... I'll learn how to use it one day... I OWN NOTHING!

**Party rock anthem**

By the time Francis had pulled up to Vash's house the party was well underway. They could hear the music blasting from down the street. Who knows maybe they would start a riot? Not likely. Vash would have shot anyone before the party got out of hand.

Francis parked the car and everyone got out. Gilbert sighed and stretched. There was nothing like a good party after a stressful day. "So let me guess it's the usual plan isn't it?" Asked Gilbert. "Antonio finds Lovino. Francis finds some drunken person and I drink till I can't see straight?"

Antonio nodded. "That's the plan."

Gilbert chuckled and headed over to the house. "I'll see you ladies on the dance floor." Francis and Antonio laughed as Gilbert walked off into the house.

It didn't take Gilbert too long before he found the beer. Once he had gotten his beer and walked through the crowd and looked around. He could see Ludwig talking with Feliciano over the other side of the room and chuckled. '_Bet Feliciano wants to get Ludwig to dance with him._'

Suddenly a girl with long brown hair grabbed Gilbert's arm. "Hey Gil haven't talked to you in ages." She said.

Gilbert grinned. "Hey Liz. You're not going to hit me with a frying pan are you?"

"Only if you deserve it." She said with a wink. "Now what have you been up to?"

Gilbert shrugged. "Nothing much. Just living I guess... Oh I broke a stupidly expensive vase the other day and now I have to work it off at the bastards shop."

Elizaveta frowned. "You mean Maple and Birds?"

Gilbert nodded. "Yeah that's the shop. You've been there before?"

Elizaveta nodded. "The guy there has some really interesting stuff. Lots of it comes from overseas. Makes you wonder how much of that stuff he sells. I mean lots of that stuff is worth hundreds of dollars if not thousands."

Gilbert nodded and drank some beer. "Yeah... I've wondered that too. So how are you Liz? Still dressing like a boy?"

Elizaveta rolled her eyes and punched Gilbert's arm. "Just because I'm wearing a band T shirt and baggy jeans!"

Gilbert rubbed his arm and poked out his tongue. "That hurt Liz."

"Oh poor you." Said Elizaveta sarcastically. "Want to hear some friendly advice?"

Gilbert smirked and raised an eyebrow. "I'm listening."

"Alfred turned up ten minutes ago." Said Elizaveta. "Last seen in the kitchen. If I were you I'd avoid him at all costs... unless you want to end up in hospital again."

Gilbert sighed and shrugged. "We'll just have to see what happens." Elizaveta shrugged and walked off to the dance floor to party with her girls. Gilbert on the other hand frowned.

"So... That douche is here... I won't let him beat me up this time." He walked through the crowd and made his way to the couch where he happily sat down and put his feet up on the table. He was at least going to get a few beers under his belt before he saw Alfred. Alcohol would numb whatever pain that may or may not be inflicted upon him later that night.

Sitting across from him was Ivan doing shots with Yao. From what he could tell they were halfway through their third bottle of vodka... or maybe it was their first and Ivan drank the other two... You could never tell with that guy.

He could see Antonio chatting to Lovino in a quiet corner of the room. Lovino was bright red and Antonio had a hint of something predatory in his eyes. With any luck Antonio was going to nail his little tomato tonight. Gilbert chuckled at that thought. Lovino seemed a little too violent to let Antonio anywhere near his vital regions.

Francis on the other hand was grinding up against some girl on the dance floor. If Gilbert wasn't mistaken it was Bella... She had a slightly over protective brother that would not appreciate Francis's advances at all... And if Francis had half a brain he would stop what he was doing before her brother showed up. Five seconds later Francis had slunk away from Bella just as her brother showed up. Smart man.

Gilbert chuckled. This was awesome. '_Ha totally awesome. Wonder if Francis will get beaten up later for that dirty dancing?_'

Suddenly a beer was poured over his head. Gilbert jumped up and growled. "What the fuck? Oh... It's just you."

Alfred smirked. "Yeah it's me. What are you doing here you freak? I thought this was a no freak zone?"

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Yeah... This is a freaking teen party you dip shit. Freak comes with the territory. Or did you just forget that? Being stupid seems to be your speciality. American idiot is your freaking theme song!"

Alfred smirked. "Tough words coming from a murderer."

Gilbert ignored the curious looks he got from the people around him and clenched his fists. Many people had called him many things over the years... a freak, a psycho, a lost cause, a loser, even a demon... But if there was one thing that always stung, which always got to him without fail it would be calling him a murderer. "I am not a murderer." He spat.

Alfred laughed. "Is that what Matthew would say if he was still alive?"

"Shut up." Whispered Gilbert.

"Did you know drowning is one of the most painful ways to die?" Hissed Alfred.

"Shut up." Said Gilbert a little louder.

"Can you imagine how he felt you freak?" Asked Alfred. "He would have felt the pressure squeeze all the air out of his lungs..."

"Shut up." Said Gilbert. Trying to stay as calm as possible.

"His lungs would have been screaming for air." Snapped Alfred. "You know what happens when you don't have any air in your lungs for more than five minutes? You involuntarily take a breath Gilbert."

"Shut up." Growled Gilbert. He could feel his heart beating loudly in his chest.

Alfred chuckled darkly. "Then after that... depending on how far down you are you can feel the pressure build up behind your eyes... Matthew died in agony because of you Gilbert. You are a murderer."

"I WASN'T EVEN THERE!" Screamed Gilbert. "I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW WHERE HE WAS GOING! HOW CAN YOU BLAME ME FOR SOMETHING THAT HAPPENED WHEN I WASN'T EVEN ON THE SAME FUCKING BOAT?"

"Because I know what happened the day before he disappeared." Hissed Alfred. "It's all your fault Gilbert. It always has been and always will be you fault."

Gilbert snarled. "How dare you... I cared about him more than you will ever know."

Alfred rolled his eyes. "Yeah... you loved him to death."

Something inside Gilbert snapped. He lunged at Alfred and knocked him to the floor. "I'LL FREAKING KILL YOU! YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

"JUST LIKE HOW YOU KILLED MATTHEW?" Yelled Alfred.

Gilbert raised his fist and growled. "I. Didn't. Kill. Matthew." Suddenly Gilbert was pulled off Alfred by someone. He struggled to get out of their grip. "LET ME GO DAMN IT! I'M GOING TO KILL HIM!"

"Calm down Gilbert." Said Ludwig. "You don't want to get into another fight with him do you?" He let Gilbert go and frowned.

Gilbert just glared at Alfred and smirked. "You're right West. This piece of shit isn't worth it." Before Alfred could say or do anything to him Gilbert quickly ran out into the backyard. He wasn't running away mind you. It was a tactical retreat.

Once he was outside he sighed and leaned against a wall. '_Bastard. I fucking hate him._' Gilbert just didn't understand what Alfred's problem was. Sure he happened to do some things that he regretted but that was no reason to call him a murderer. He didn't deserve any of that shit. '_Now... What to do? I can either stay and possibly get murdered or I can get the hell out of here and live to see the next day... Damn that first one is mighty tempting but living seems to be slightly more important._'

With his mind made up he quickly jumped the fence and started to walk down the street. It was a nice cool night and there were only a few mosquitos out so it wasn't so bad. As he walked further away from the house he started to hear the chirps of crickets and bugs. Suddenly the sound of twig snapping made him jump. He looked across the road to where the noise came from and his jaw dropped. It was Canada.

He had his hands clenched into fists and his eyes were staring straight ahead. There was something about them... They seemed determined... Like he was on a mission and the way he walked was different too, much more commanding than usual. '_What's he up to?_' Curiosity got the better of him. He quickly darted across the road and he began to follow Canada.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Gilbert quickly ducked into an ally way as Canada looked over his shoulder. He had been following him for about twenty minutes so far and nothing of interest had happened. It just seemed like Canada was going for a walk or something. Maybe that was it. Well what else could it be?

He felt like a stalker... a really shitty one too. '_... I feel like a stalker... or a murderer... or some fucked up weirdo... Hell I feel like Francis hunting down some chick or dude... or Antonio when he first fell for Lovino... I really should go home..._'

He peeked out of his hiding spot and frowned. Canada was crossing the road over to the park. "The hell?" Growled Gilbert. He quickly darted across the road and followed Canada into the park.

The trees provided good coverage for him. He careful and skilfully walked behind trees and dived behind bushes whenever Canada flinched. Gilbert shook his head and sighed. '_This is stupid... Why am I even doing this?_'

Suddenly Canada stopped walking, turned his head and froze. "Over there..." He muttered to himself. Canada turned and ran down a small dirt path. Gilbert quickly followed and hid behind a tree.

Canada stoped walking and sighed. "I know you're there. There's no point in trying to hide."

Gilbert frowned and was about to walk out from his hiding spot when he heard a strange noise. It sounded like chirping mixed with a low growling noise. Slowly something that looked like a human crawled out from the shadows. It was wearing an assortment of animal skins over its body, its skin seemed old and leathery and its eyes were glazed over and sunken into its skull. The sight made Gilbert's skin crawl. '_What the hell is that?_'

Canada sighed. "So she was telling the truth... a Plague is here... You've been causing a lot of trouble for some of the strays here... What's say you go back to your master and I forget you were even here?"

The Plague as Canada called it hissed and slashed out its claw at him like a cat. Gilbert gulped. '_Holy shit what the fuck is going on?_'

Canada took a fighting stance and pulled a knife out of his pocket. "You really want to do this? You know you're going to lose." The Plague hissed again and reared up ready to pounce. Canada crouched down and smirked. "Bring it."

The Plague lunged forward hissing and scratching. Canada easily dodged him and smirked. He lunged towards the Plague and sliced its wrist open. The Plague hissed and licked at its wound. "You will pay..." The Plague growled.

Canada smiled. "So you can talk. I thought you were incapable of speech."

"We have the ability to speak." Spat the Plague. "We just don't need it. It is the lowest form of communication. We are a higher intelligence."

Canada frowned. "A higher intelligence? Doesn't your master speak in words? Do you think you are better than him? Even if that thing is less than human... Now I'll tell you one more time. Go home to your master now or I will kill you."

"Never." The Plague hissed.

Canada sighed. "Have it your way." He put the knife back into his pocket and glared at the Plague. His violet eyes seemed to blaze even though there was minimal light "_Look into my eyes. It's time for your demise. One that only maims, deserves to go up in flames._"

Suddenly the Plague burst into blue flames. Gilbert had to hold back a scream. '_HOLY SHIT! WHAT THE FUCK? WHAT JUST HAPPENED? WAS THAT MAGIC? WHO CARES THAT WAS FUCKING CRAZY!_'

When the Plague was burnt Canada spat in the ashes and kicked them. "You should have run when I gave you the chance..." A small black cat slunk out of the shadows and began to purr and rub its face against Canada's pant leg. Canada smiled and picked it up, cradling it in his arms like a small child. "Feeling better now?" He asked the cat. "No more nasty Plague is going to bother you or your friends." The cat purred happily and licked Canada's nose with its rough tongue. "Hey it was nothing." Said Canada. "You don't need to thank me." He put the cat back on the ground and yawned. "Okay I'm going to go home now. Have a nice night." The cat meowed and quickly disappeared into the shadows.

Gilbert watched wide eyed as Canada walked down the path like nothing had happened. Gilbert slid down to the ground and gulped. '_Okay... one of three things just happened... I'm either dreaming, had way too much to drink or Canada just used magic... I'm pretty sure I drank too much..._'

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Yeah sorry if this chapter sucked... Please review?


	6. Sloagh

**Shinigami-cat: **Yeah... That last chapter was pretty awesome. Also I'm going back to school so the updates will take a little longer. Lyrics used are Grave robber at large by Creature Feature... I OWN NOTHING!

**Sloagh**

It was now midday on a Saturday and Gilbert was once again stuck in Canada's shop. He was sitting in one of the back rooms dusting off some really old hats. His mind kept wandering to the previous night and the weird things that had happened. '_What the hell happened?_' He thought. '_What's a Plague? And what the hell did Canada do? It must have been some kind of magic... But what the hell kind of spell is that?_'

He sneezed and groaned. "Fucking dusty hats. Why are they so freaking dusty?" Slowly the door creaked open, causing Gilbert to look at who was coming in. It was Kumajiro. "What do you want?" Asked Gilbert.

"Lunch time." Said Kuma. "Come."

Gilbert shrugged and followed Kuma back up the hall to the kitchen where Canada was busy serving up the food. Gilbert frowned. "I thought I was meant to buy my own lunch."

Canada shrugged. "Well you can if you want. I just thought you would want something better than greasy fast food and over crispy and oily fish." Gilbert shrugged at sat down at the small table. Free food was free food. Canada put a plate in front of him. It was a burger but the meat was white.

"A chicken burger?" He questioned.

Canada shook his head and gave Kuma his food before sitting down. "Freshly caught tuna steaks with fresh lettuce and tartar sauce with a hint of black pepper and salt with a squeeze of lemon on a toasted roll."

Gilbert raised an eye brow. "Descriptive."

Canada shrugged. "If you want more I cooked some more tuna steaks." With that he started to eat.

Gilbert sighed and bit into his food. His eyes went wide. '_This is awesome..._'

Canada chuckled. "I can tell by your expression that you like it or am I mistaken?"

Gilbert rolled his eyes and swallowed. "It's pretty awesome but not as awesome as pancakes."

Canada nodded in agreement. "Yeah... I really need to get more flour."

Kuma pushed his plate towards Canada. "More please."

Canada smiled a little too sweetly. "You know where the food it Kuma. You can get it yourself."

Kuma frowned and pushed his plate closer to Canada. "Food." He whined.

"You can get it yourself." Said Canada.

Kuma pouted and used his big puppy dog eyes. "Food?"

"Kuma... Fine." Canada sighed and got Kuma more food.

Gilbert chuckled. '_What a push over. Kuma has this guy wiped._'

But instead of Canada making Kuma another burger he went over to the fridge and pulled out a large fish. He put it in front of Kuma and went back to eating his own food. "Enjoy."

Kuma frowned and walked off with the fish. Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "Um... Is he really going to eat it?"

"That or put it in the freezer in the back of the shop." Said Canada.

"There's a freezer back there?" Asked Gilbert.

Canada shrugged. "Somewhere back there..."

Gilbert nodded. "Hey Canada... What's a Plague?"

Canada frowned. "A plague... An epidemic disease that causes high mortality; pestilence. Usually spread by bacteria."

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "No... A Plague. Looks like a wrinkly old person, sunken eyes, wears animal fur and doesn't speak because it thinks it's smarter."

Matthew froze for a second then shrugged. "Never heard of something like that before. Have you been watching horror movies or something? They sound more like zombies."

'_Lire._' Thought Gilbert. '_You know exactly what I'm talking about. What the hell are you hiding?_'

The phone started ringing and Canada answered it. "Hello? Maple and Birds antiques shop how may I help you?" Suddenly Canada's eyes went wide. "Papa? I didn't expect you to call. Now's not a good time."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. '_His dad huh?_'

Canada walked to the door way back and continued to talk to his papa. "What do you mean? But that's impossible! How did that happen? I see... I'll get started on it as soon as it comes in... Tell the others that I'm fine... Not that they would care. Bye papa." Canada put the phone down and ran his fingers through his hair. "Why today... I thought I was going to catch a break..."

Gilbert frowned. "What's up?"

Canada sighed. "Nothing just family stuff... If you want to go home now you can... I have stuff to deal with... Just come back tomorrow..."

Gilbert shrugged. "Okay then... Later I guess?"

Canada nodded and walked down the hall. "Hey Kuma? Where do we keep the tool box?"

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Gilbert sat in his room with the laptop open. He was going to find out what the hell this Plague thing was even if it killed him. All he got on Google was a bunch of sickly pictures of diseased people, rats and articles of the bubonic plague. Some of it was pretty gruesome. "This is so weird..." He muttered. "Why can I find anything?"

"What are you doing home?" Asked Ludwig.

Gilbert waved him off. "The big bad boss had family stuff to take care of. He told me to go home early. So what's with you? Not hanging with your little Italian lover today?"

Ludwig blushed slightly. "He's not my lover."

Gilbert chuckled. "Keseseses. Sure West. Sure." He could have teased his brother more but he had bigger fish to fry. "Hey Ludwig you walk through the park sometimes right? Have you noticed anything unusual there?"

Ludwig shrugged. "Not really. Why do you ask?"

"Well I've just heard that some weird stuff's been happening around there." Said Gilbert. "Just thought that you might have heard something."

Ludwig thought for a second. "Actually... Hercules mentioned something to Kiku the other day but it didn't seem that odd."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "You can tell me you know. I don't care if it sounds weird."

"Well..." Sighed Ludwig. "Apparently Hercules has been finding more dead cats around there lately. Nothing really that weird in my opinion but he thought it was weird."

Gilbert frowned. "Dead? As in dropped dead, run over, ripped open or possibly burned to ashes?"

Ludwig shrugged. "I have no idea... What have you heard?"

Gilbert chuckled. "Um... well I heard that there was some kind of homeless guy living there... and um... He was killing the stays there and stuff..."

"Where did you hear that?" Ludwig shook his head and walked off. "That's just weird."

Gilbert pouted and stuck out his tongue. "Screw you West." He sighed and went back to his research. "There has to be something... I so need to... I can't believe I'm saying this but, I think I need to go to a library." The very thought made him shudder. But it might help him.

He got up and marched down the stairs. Ludwig glanced at him as he walked past the kitchen. "Where are you going?"

"Back to Maple and Birds." Lied Gilbert. "I left my phone there again. I'm just going to get it back." Someday his lies might end up getting him into serious trouble.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Gilbert was looking through the shelves in the library while listening to his iPod. He was in the mythology section. The older the books the better. He hummed to himself as he flipped through a book and put his iPod on shuffle.

_There is something strange down by the cemetery  
>Emptying the graves left and right<br>Ghastly schemes and ghoulish undertakings  
>Underneath the pale moonlight<br>_

"Werewolf's, vampires, zombies..." Muttered Gilbert. "This is all bull shit..." He put it back and pulled out another book. The oddly beautiful image of a girl with a snake tail caught his eye. "Naga..." He read. "Indian water nymphs similar to Greek Nagas, said to be able to transform into snakes... Cool but useless."

Once again he put the book back and pulled out another one. Hopefully he would find something better.

_Curse the day they invented the crematory  
>What a foolish waste of potential sales<br>It's a damn shame to discard inventory  
>Think outside the box if all else fails<em>

_Death is my business and business is good!  
><em>

"Skogsfru... Meaning '_Enchanted lady of the forest_'. These creatures take the form of beautiful girls to lure men into the forests to either help them or drive them insane. They have long auburn hair and the tail of a cow or a fox and appear normal from the front but are hollowed out like old tree trunks when seen from behind." Gilbert looked at the picture and smirked. "Damn that looks like Feliciano. Girl version."

He smiled a little at the image of the girl; large innocent eyes, obvious female parts and a small hair curl sticking out of the left side of its head. She was crouching down on a fallen log with her long hair masterfully covering her cleavage and her leg hiding her vital regions. He chuckled and continued to look through it.

_There's a grave robber at large  
>Ripping bodies from hallowed ground<br>Desecrate those who rest in peace  
>There's profit to be made from the recent deceased<br>_

He sighed and flipped over a few pages. "Nakken... A beautiful naked male that shows up in Swedish streams playing a violin and luring women to their deaths with his good looks and enchanting music..."

He looked at the crudely drawn picture and frowned. The picture made a mockery of the description. But then again who could blame the artist for it? After all it was a very old book. Gilbert wondered if it should even be on display. He put it back and looked for another one.

_Skeletal remains are safe in the ossuary  
>They're quite stale and not worth a dime<br>Don't think me a fiend, this is strictly monetary  
>Fortune calls and I'll answer this time.<br>_

He picked up a thin book and looked at some of the pages. "Roggenmuhme... '_lady of the rye_' makes children disappear when they play in long grasses on hot summer days. Poudnica... a female noon demon. She gives heatstroke and neck ache to people working in the fields."

Gilbert pouted at the pictures and pulled out another book. '_How long until I find the Plague?_'

He sighed. "Nix... A German freshwater mermaid or siren. They don't have fish tails but they take on the appearance of female humans or snakes. Vila... A Slavic version of Greek nymph and has power over storms and water. They usually appear as dead women in a bridal dress, covered in blood... Cool."

_In this occupation timing is instrumental  
>A matter of hours can plummet the price<br>The fact it's a crime is simply incidental  
>Freshness is key, nothing else will suffice<em>

_Death is my business and business is good!  
><em>

"Alp is a kind of night spirit from Ancient German folklore. Often related to the vampire myths in eastern Europe, but it's probably closer to an incubus or succubus in its qualities. It is a creature that attacks sleeping humans at night and gives them nightmares. It's said to drink the blood of its victims, hence its association with vampires. The Alp is generally considered to be a malevolent demon, but is said to be able to take the form of an animal and is sometimes associated with the werewolf. To add to the confusion it is sometimes described as a kind of elf, because the German word for nightmare is _Albtraum_, meaning elf-dream..." Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Grandpa used to talk about these things all the time."

_There's a grave robber at large  
>Ripping bodies from hallowed ground<br>Desecrate those who rest in peace  
>There's profit to be made from the recent deceased<br>_

Gilbert sighed and flipped through the book. "Valkyrie... Priestesses from Norse mythology whose duty was to fly over the battlefields, choosing the slain warriors who had distinguished themselves well enough in battle to be allowed entry to Valhalla, the afterlife of the Norse people." He sighed and picked up another book.

_Midnight meetings inside the graveyard  
>Crunching numbers, breaking the earth<br>I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty  
>Even if things seem a bit perverse<br>_

"Rhine maidens... A type of German siren who lured sailors to their deaths on the rocks of Rhine. A particularly dangerous section of the river is named Lorelei, which means murmuring rocks. It is named Lorelei after a beautiful maiden who threw herself into the Rhine because of a faithless lover and became a siren, luring men to their deaths."

_Though these deeds weigh heavy on my soul  
>I will no doubt sleep perfectly sound<br>While you struggle to keep your conscience  
>A garden of riches rots in the ground<em>

_Death is my business and business is good!  
><em>

Gilbert scratched his nose and flipped a few pages. "Goblins... A small kind of demon that is depicted as ugly and malevolent. As with many folk creatures, names are non-specific and goblins become confused with demons, faeries, gnomes and dwarves depending on their country of origin."

Gilbert nibbled his bottom lip and frowned. '_Maybe that means that a Plague is called something different in a different country?_'

"Goblins are usually harmful and are closely associated with the gargoyle sculptures on medieval churches. In many stories they eat humans and kidnap children. It is said that a Goblin's smile will curdle the blood and its laugh will make milk sour... Right..." He put the book back on the shelf and sighed.

_There's a grave robber at large  
>Ripping bodies from hallowed ground<br>Desecrate those who rest in peace  
>There's profit to be made from the recent deceased<em>

_Death is my business and business is good!_

There was absolutely nothing he could use to find out what the hell a Plague was. '_Crap... If it really is called something else in a different language I have no idea what I'll do._' He sighed again and saw something yellow out of the corner of his eye. He glanced to the side and grinned. It was Arthur Kirkland.

It was a well-known fact around the school that Arthur was really into mythology and magical creatures of all sorts (that and he had the mother of all eyebrows). If there was one person who would know what a Plague was it would be Arthur. He quickly moved over to Arthur with a smirk on his face. "Hey Arthur. Fancy seeing you here."

Arthur scowled. "What do you want Gilbert. I'm not in the mood for you or Francis or Antonio today so just shove off."

Gilbert pouted. "Dude... Francis and Antonio aren't here. It's just me."

Arthur raised his eyebrows in shock. "You're her of your own free will?"

"I know." Said Gilbert. "Shock of the century. So do you want to know why I'm here?"

Arthur shrugged. "I don't know and I don't care. At all."

"Oh really?" Smirked Gilbert. "I thought you might be able to help me, but I guess you really don't know that much about mythical creatures at all then do you?"

Arthur sighed in defeat. "Fine... What are you looking at?"

Gilbert chuckled. This was too easy. "Well you see... Long story short I found this really old piece of paper in the back room of my bosses workplace said something about some magical creature called a Plague. It looks like a wrinkly old person, sunken eyes, wears animal fur and doesn't speak because it thinks it's smarter... Ring any bells?"

Arthur frowned. "A Plague? Never heard of it... But then again... It sounds similar to something I read once." He walked past Gilbert and over to the mythology section. Gilbert quickly followed. After a quick search Arthur picked up a book and flipped through it. "Found it."

"What?" Asked Gilbert.

Arthur passed him the book. There was a picture of all these small human like creatures in different types of animal furs crawling, limping, and staggering forward while a darker presence loomed over them. "The Sloagh." Said Arthur. "They are the '_Hosts of the unforgiven dead_', from ancient Scottish folklore. They are the '_Unseelie court_' which is the evil opposition of the '_Seelie court_' The aristocratic faeries of the Tuatha De Danaan. The Sloagh include every type of nasty demon, goblin and ghost in Celtic myth so they can be interpreted in any number of ways."

Gilbert nodded and ran his fingertips over the picture. '_The Sloagh... A group of magical monsters... Hosts of the unforgiven dead... Is that what was down there?_'

"You okay Gilbert?" Asked Arthur. "You seem a little out of it."

Gilbert sighed. "Yeah I'm fine... What can kill them?"

"Kill them?" Asked Arthur. "I can imagine any number of things. I mean they are made up of a number of different things so different things could kill them. Why do you ask?"

"Um... That is a good question." Said Gilbert. "And my answer is that um... It's some TV show that I'm watching... I'm getting really into it and I was just looking at stuff that the plot was alluding to... Um yeah... That sounds reasonable right?"

"Right..." Said Arthur as he slowly walked away. "Oh and Gilbert if you see Francis today tell him to stop leaving creepy love notes in my locker. He better not deny it either. Only Francis would be a big enough wanker to sign with a rose."

Gilbert chuckled. "Yeah... I'll tell him next time I see him." When Arthur was gone Gilbert looked at the picture again. "Sloagh..." He mumbled. "Sloagh... What are you hiding? More importantly what is Canada hiding?"

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Well... Yeah, just to let you know I made none of that stuff about magical creatures up. I actually looked all that up... Damn that was stressful... Please review?


	7. Sickness

**Shinigami-cat: **Wow... I got so many reviews last chapter. I feel so loved! So anyway I'm going on camp tomorrow so yeah... You know the drill... I OWN NOTHING!

**Sickness**

"MOTHER FUCKING STUPID PIECE OF SHIT!" Screamed Gilbert as he shook the laptop. "I WANT INFO ON THE SLOAGH! NOT FUCKING SLOUGH! WHAT THE FUCK IS SLOUGH? AHHHHHHHHH!" He threw laptop across the room cracking the screen. "Probably could have handled that better... Wait a second... Didn't I borrow Ludwig's laptop? Oh shit..."

Gilbert quickly picked up the laptop and looked it over. He gulped. '_It's just a little broken... It's still good! It's still good! Who am I kidding... It's broken... Time to hide the evidence._' Gilbert skilfully kicked the laptop under his bed.

After his less than perfect outburst he walked down to the kitchen to get some lunch. He dug through the fridge and smirked when he saw some pasta. Feliciano must have made some the last time he was over. He heated it up and sat on the couch while channel surfing. But all he could think about was the Sloagh.

"So..." He said to himself. "I basically knew little to nothing about them... Besides the fact that there are a hell of a lot of them and they are Scottish... This means pretty much jack all to me. I really need to stop talking to myself. Yes you should Gilbert. Yeah I know!" He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. He needed to talk to Canada about it.

He looked up at the clock and frowned. He would have to be there in a few minutes anyway. He quickly wolfed down the rest of the pasta and walked out of the house. It would give him about ten minutes to think about how to bring up the topic of Sloagh with Canada.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Gilbert opened the door to Canada's shop and heard a scream. "AHHHHH! GOD DAMN IT KUMA!"

"Who are you?"

"CANADA!"

Cautiously Gilbert walked into the back of the shop and stopped dead in his tracks. Canada was sitting on the floor; his arms were wrapped in bandages, there were shallow cuts on his face, he had a split lip, he was wearing goggles that were cracked and covered in blood, and Kuma was dabbing antiseptic onto his chest. "What the hell happened to you?" Asked Gilbert.

Canada looked over at Gilbert and smiled. "Hey Gilbert... Just a little mishap with something my Papa sent over." He chuckled. "He didn't tell me it was so dangerous." He flinched slightly when Kuma dabbed some antiseptic on his nose.

Gilbert nodded slowly. "Right... did he send you a tiger?"

Canada chuckled and slowly got up. "No... He sent me something way better." He pulled on his hoddie and looked at Gilbert. "Wanna see what he sent? It's pretty awesome."

Gilbert shrugged and followed Canada down the hall towards a room. Canada pushed it open and walked inside. Gilbert looked inside and his jaw dropped. The room was filled with many different kinds of mannequin's covered in different kinds of armour. Lots of it was pretty banged up and burnt. "What the hell happened to this stuff?"

Canada shrugged. "Honestly I don't know. My Papa and his... friends are really into um... medieval renaissance fairs and stuff. Every now and then they send me armour to fix up and sometimes clothes. It's a bit of a hobby of mine."

Gilbert nodded and walked over to one of the mannequin's. It seemed to be melted a little. "So... how did you manage to cut yourself so badly?"

Canada sighed and walked over to a different suit of armour and pulled off the arm. "Underneath this is a button and when you press it something like a mini buzz saw pops out. I kind of forgot about that and jumped back... Then I happened to trip over my tool box and crash into the cabinet where I keep all the spare parts."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "Quick question... What the hell kind of old armour has hidden weapons?"

Canada smiled. "I never said it was old armour."

"Yeah... How are you going to fix it?"

Canada shrugged. "Hammer, nails, welding tool. The usual stuff." He put his goggles back on and grabbed an oil can. He started to oil some of the hinges carefully. "Could you hand me a spanner? One of the bolts at the back's come loose again." Gilbert handed Canada a spanner. Canada took it and started to tighten it. "Thanks. I keep telling Papa not to move around so quickly while he wears this... or at least to tighten this when he's finished using it."

"How old is your old man anyway?" Asked Gilbert.

Canada slowly began to flex the legs of the armour. "Pretty old... Way older than he looks. My brother and I think he and dad are almost as old as the dinosaurs."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "You have gay parents and a brother?"

Canada nodded and scratched his chin. "Yeah... To tell the truth my family is pretty messed up. My Papa for the most part was and still is an alcoholic and a lustful narcissist who spent as less time with me as he did trying to get into my Dad's pants. My Dad is the least sane in my family. He's neglectful, abusive, a hypocrite and a schizophrenic that is convinced he can see pixies and elves. Seriously he needs to see a psychiatrist. Then there's my brother... he is an egotistical idiot with a hero complex... Yay family."

"Wow." Said Gilbert. "You make my family sound normal."

Canada chuckled. "I don't believe in normal. Normal is boring. But at the same time boring is not normal. Boring is abnormal... So what about your family is abnormal?"

Gilbert shrugged. "My brother is OCD, boring as hell, denies the fact that he's gay for his best friend and I swear he has a stick shoved up his ass. My Grandpa is the same. I'm the only awesome one."

Canada smiled. "Of course you are. Well now that you know about one of my hobbies what about you?"

Gilbert thought for a second. "Recently I've been looking into mythology... Specifically I've been looking at the Sloagh."

Canada froze, was there a glint of fear behind his eyes? "Sloagh?"

Gilbert smirked. "Yeah Sloagh... Ever heard of it? It's been a real bitch trying to find anything about them on the internet. I've had to go to the library and stuff. But they don't have much on Celtic mythology. What's up with that?"

Canada seemed to brighten up a little at that. "Really? Too bad."

Gilbert shrugged and walked up to the armour next to Canada. "Oh I don't know if it's that bad..." He slowly dragged his fingertips along the breast plate. "I mean... I there's this kid in my year who's really into magic and mythology and stuff. I'm sure he can help me find heaps of stuff on the Sloagh if I ask... Sloagh... Just have to love the way it rolls off the tongue. Sloagh... Sloagh."

Canada shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah... Go help Kuma with something."

Gilbert dropped his hand away from the armour. "Why? You asked me what I was interested in and I told you. What are you hiding Canada?"

Canada rolled his eyes. "The secret to immortality obviously. I'm actually over a hundred years old. I age well don't I?"

"Cut the crap!" Snapped Gilbert. "You know just what I'm talking about! I saw you the other night in the park! You set something you call a Plague on fire just by saying a few fucking words! What the fuck?"

Canada ignored him and started to check the joints in the arms of armour were working. "Needs some more oil." He muttered.

Gilbert growled and grabbed Canada's arm. "FUCKING TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON!" Canada grabbed Gilbert's other arm and dug his nails into Gilbert's cuts. Gilbert cried out and tried to pull his arm away. "LET ME GO!" But Canada clamped down harder. His eyes were no longer the vibrant violet they once were, they were now a dark murky purple, with foreboding hints of dark blue and... Red?

"Shut the fuck up Gilbert." He hissed. "You have no fucking right to fucking walk into my fucking shop and fucking accuse me of this fucking bullshit that I obviously know nothing about. The only thing I know about the Sloagh is that they are the stuff of nightmares. Now calm the fuck down and fucking get back to work you little shit. I have no time for you fucking around today. So just go and fucking find Kuma and fucking get to work. You still owe me a fuck load of money so get working you shit face scum."

He pushed Gilbert onto the floor with no remorse at all in his eyes. Gilbert growled and rubbed his wrist. "What the fuck you crazy bastard?"

Canada groaned and rubbed his temples. "Sorry I just... I just don't need this today... Just... Just go help Kuma please... I need to be alone right now..."

Gilbert got to his feet and walked out the door. "You're a fucking psycho Canada." He slammed the door shut and walked up the hall. He pulled down the sleeve and inspected the bandages on his arms. They were slowly going red. "Shit he ripped the scabs." He sighed and walked to the kitchen where Kuma was putting away the first aid kit. "Leave it out I need to change a bandage."

Kuma shrugged and passed Gilbert a bandage. "What happened?"

Gilbert rolled his eyes and discarded his old bandage. "Canada flipped out. He grabbed my arm and swore his head off."

Kuma's jaw dropped. "And you left him alone?" He ran past Gilbert and down the hall. Gilbert quickly put on a fresh bandage and followed Kuma back to where Canada was. Gilbert stood in the door way, eyes wide. Canada was unconscious on the floor, his skin was paper white, and his eyes were rolling into the back of his head. Kuma was sitting next to him with absolute panic written across his face.

"Holy shit." Whispered Gilbert. "What happened?"

Kuma gulped and began to check Canada for vital signs. "Still breathing." He muttered. "And his heart's still beating, but he's very cold." Kuma looked up at Gilbert with tear filled eyes. "We need to get him to bed. He needs to stay warm. Help me carry him."

Gilbert nodded and quickly grabbed Canada's legs while Kuma laced his arms under Canada's and they lifted him up. "Shouldn't we like call an ambulance?" Asked Gilbert.

Kuma shook his head. "No doctors. No hospitals. No insurance. He needs to go to bed." Slowly they walked out of the room carrying Canada down the hall and up the stairs to the second floor of the building. They walked down a small narrow hall towards a door. Kuma kicked it open and they walked inside. The room was filled with bits and bobs. It reminded Gilbert of the shop. They put Canada on the bed in the middle of the room.

Kuma covered him with several blankets and ran out of the room. He came back several minutes with a hot water bottle. He put it under the covers and stood next to Canada with sad and worried eyes. Gilbert stood by the door and looked on with confusion. "What's wrong with him?"

"Very sick." Said Kuma. "No cure. He needs to stay warm." He pulled the covers higher over Canada. "He's been sick for a very long time..."

"Is it life threatening?" Asked Gilbert.

Kuma shook his head. "No. But it can be if he isn't careful. When he's stressed he can get really sick, really quickly..." Tears began to fall from Kuma's eyes. "It scares me. It reminds me that he won't be around forever and I... I... I don't want to be alone again!"

Gilbert walked up to Kuma and patted his back. "Hey it's okay Kuma... I'm sure he'll be fine... Just give him some time. I'm sure he'll be up and about sooner than you know."

Kuma sniffled. "Maybe... He just gets so sick so easily these days... I'm so scared that he's going to die."

Gilbert frowned. "... How bad can it get?"

"He can be passed out for several days at a time." Said Kuma. "Sometimes he talks in his sleep... He talks about sad things... I don't like it when he does that."

Gilbert looked over Canada's face; his lips were dusted blue and his skin was whiter than his. It was creepy. "What kind of things?" Asked Gilbert.

"Sad stuff." Said Kuma. "He talks about his Papa, his dad, his brother... His darkest moments... His fears... His nightmares... And the one person that he fears the more than death." Kuma bit his lip and touched Canada's forehead. "We should go... He needs his rest."

Gilbert nodded and followed Kuma down to the kitchen. Kuma sat at the table and rubbed his eyes. Gilbert sat across from him and sighed. '_Does this mean I get the rest of the day off?_'

Kuma shifted awkwardly in his seat, not knowing what to do. He reminded Gilbert of Ludwig when they were younger. Ludwig was such a nervous and awkward child. He sighed and stood up. His brotherly instincts kicking in. "Hey Kuma come here for a second." Kuma sniffled and did as he was told. When he was close enough Gilbert embraced him in a hug. "It's okay Kuma. Canada's going to be fine."

Kuma hugged back and whimpered. "He could be out of it for days... He might not be able to get out of bed for months! I can't run the shop by myself!"

Gilbert rubbed Kuma's back in an attempt to comfort him. "Hey it's okay... Calm down Kuma. I'm still here remember. I have to be here... Stupid overpriced vase..."

Kuma sighed. "Yeah... Thanks. Looks like he was right after all. You are a good person."

Gilbert frowned. "Who said that? Canada?"

Kuma nodded. "Yeah... He said that you were a good person. That and you're good at dusting."

Gilbert chuckled and patted Kuma's head. "You're alright." He walked over to the fridge and started to look at what there was to eat. "What do you want for dinner?"

Kuma tilted his head in confusion. "You're staying?"

"Of course I am." Said Gilbert. He couldn't just leave Kuma all alone with a sick and helpless Canada. It would be like leaving an innocent child alone with Francis. Never a good idea.

Kuma's eyes lit up. "Thank you." He walked over to the fridge and looked over Gilbert's shoulder. "What's thawed out?"

Gilbert shrugged. "Looks like beef, mince, chicken and fish. A lot of fresh vegetables too."

"Soup?" Asked Kuma.

Gilbert nodded and pulled out the chicken. "Sure I'll make chicken soup. You good with that?" Kuma nodded and walked over to a cupboard under the sink. He pulled out a large pot and put it on the stove. Gilbert grinned. Kuma really reminded him of Ludwig back when they were really little. "Just fill it up with water and put it on the stove. I'll do the rest."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Soon the soup was cooking away nicely. Gilbert had even washed up. Ludwig could never again say he was a lazy ass again. Not that he ever was though, he was just too awesome to do things like cooking and washing up. But he just had to help Kuma out. The poor kid was as defenceless as a cub without Canada around.

Kuma kept himself busy by going up every ten minutes or so to see if Canada was alright. According to Kuma, Canada was starting to get some colour back in his face.

"Should be awake tomorrow." Said Kuma happily.

Gilbert smiled. "That's good to know." He checked the soup and grinned. "It's ready now if you want some." Kuma smiled and nodded. Gilbert dished out the soup and sat down across from Kuma. "Okay I'll stay for a bit longer than I have to go home."

Kuma nodded and ate some soup. "Good soup."

Gilbert grinned. "And Francis says I can't cook."

"Who?"

"Francis, he's friend of mine from school." Said Gilbert. "He's a bit of a whore but he's pretty cool."

Kuma smiled and nodded. "You know it's eight thirty right?"

Gilbert gulped. "Seriously? I have to get home." He jumped up and headed to the door. "You'll be fine by yourself?"

Kuma nodded. "See you tomorrow."

Gilbert smiled and walked out of the shop. Once he was outside he sighed and let the cool night air wash over him. '_Kuma and Canada's going to be fine right? Maybe... I hope so... But if I don't have to work for a few day's that's cool... I guess..._' He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. He couldn't explain this heavy feeling deep in his stomach. It made him feel ill, like he was going to be sick. '_Shit what's happening to me?_'

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Blah... done... PLEASE REVIEW!


	8. Unexpected things

**Shinigami-cat: **So sorry about the lateness! My laptop crashed and I lost everything I had for this story! That and I was getting over a panic attack… Anyway seriously the beginning of this is crack… I OWN NOTHING!

**Unexpected things**

Gilbert walked into Maple & Birds with a sinking feeling in his guts. He hoped that Canada was alright. Maybe the shop would be closed so he wouldn't have to work. He wouldn't mind that. He walked into the kitchen and looked around. "Hey Kuma? Is the shop still open…? Anyone here? Helllllllllllo?"

Suddenly Canada popped his head into the kitchen. "Hey Gilbert. Thanks for taking care of Kumacoma for me last night."

Gilbert jumped and frowned. "Dude you looked like you were going to die last night. Should you really be up and about right now?"

Canada laughed and walked in. "Well this shop isn't going to run its self you know. I have to be up and about."

Gilbert frowned. There was something off about Canada. He didn't like it. "Did you take any medication today or something? Maybe weed or crack?"

Canada pouted and pulled a huge packet of chips out of the cupboard. "I swear it's medicinal. Honestly… Why does America have these stupid anti dope laws? It's really dumb don't you think?"

Gilbert face palmed. '_Great… My boss is higher than a fucking kite… Or at least has the munchies… Could this day get any stranger?_' Kuma walked into the kitchen smoking a joint. He seemed more spaced out than usual. '_I stand corrected…_'

Canada frowned and pulled the joint out of Kuma's mouth. He threw it into the sink. "How many times to I have to tell you to stop smoking my stuff?" He asked Kuma.

Kuma licked his lips. "The paper tastes like bacon."

Canada sighed and gave Kuma a packet of paper. "Knock yourself out." Kuma took the paper and started to eat it.

Gilbert shook his head and sighed. "That's it. I'm out of here."

Canada pouted and hugged Gilbert from behind. "Come on!" He whined. "You just got here man! There's stuff that needs to get done! Man… your hair is really sliver… Maybe it's grey… I can't tell…"

Gilbert froze. He could feel Canada's breath on the back of his neck, the smell of pot filled his nose and the familiar, yet foreign feel of being embraced in a hug made his skin crawl. '_Holy shit! He's touching me. He's touching me. He's touching me. He's touching me. He's touching me. He's touching me._'

Canada nuzzled his face into the back of Gilbert's head. "Your hair is soft… Like a kitten… or a polar bear… So soft… Order a pizza or something. Kuma and I ate everything this morning."

Gilbert growled and pushed Canada away. "Get your own fucking pizza! You could have died last night and you celebrate your good health by smoking dope with a kid? Did you hit your head hear when you hit the floor?"

Canada chuckled and ran his fingers through his hair. "Okay so I'm a little high and my judgement is slightly off… Kuma usually just eats the paper anyway. So are you ordering a pizza yet?"

Gilbert growled. "No. I'm not ordering a pizza. How much dope have you smoked anyway? Not enough to eat everything in here that's for sure!"

Canada shrugged and opened up the fridge door. It was empty. "We were starving man."

Gilbert's jaw dropped. "WHAT THE HELL? WHY AREN'T YOU DEAD YET?"

Canada shrugged and started to eat more chips. "It'll take more than over eating and smoking dope to kill me."

"WHY THE HELL DID YOU SMOKE SO MUCH?"

Canada sighed sadly and looked out the small kitchen window. "Honestly… I did it to forget."

Gilbert frowned. "Forget about what?"

Canada smiled and shrugged. "I can't remember. So I guess it worked."

Gilbert face palmed. "Right…"

Canada giggled and walked off to the front of the shop. As he went he passed Kuma who was eating all his bacon paper and pulled it out of his mouth. "No more." He said.

Kuma just sighed and rested his head on the table. He looked up at Gilbert and smiled. "He's better now."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "I wouldn't call smoking dope better but at least he's walking around… I guess."

Kuma waved him off and yawned. "He always smokes dope after he gets sick. It makes him forget about all the bad things that have happened."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "Really? He's high on pot and you've obviously had some too."

Kuma shrugged. "I just like the paper. It tastes like bacon. The pot makes it taste a little weird."

"Really?" Asked Gilbert. He looked over at the front of the shop and frowned. "Should he really be out the front right now? What if someone comes in?"

"MAI!" Cried Canada. "You're back and this time you brought a friend."

Gilbert sighed and looked into the front of the shop. There was a boy holding a black cat in his arms. He recognized him from school. It was Hercules. The cat in his arms squirmed and jumped to the floor, making a bee line for Canada. Canada giggled and picked up the cat and rubbed its ear. "So cute."

Hercules frowned slightly. "You know her?"

Canada nodded and put Mai on the counter. "Yeah… she comes by every now and then… Anyway what can I do for you?"

Hercules shifted slightly and blushed. "My mum ordered something a few days ago. I just came to get it for her."

Canada chuckled and smiled. He walked behind the counter and pulled up a small black box. He opened it and pulled out a Japanese style vase. "There was a small chip in the base but I was able to restore it. Would you like me to wrap it?"

Hercules nodded. "Thanks."

Canada wrapped it and handed it over to Hercules, who quickly gave him the money. Mai quickly jumped off the counter and followed Hercules to the front door. "Oh by the way!" Called Canada, a wicked smile across his face. "I don't get that many customers Hercules. In fact I haven't had a woman old enough to be a teenager's mother walk through these doors in about a month. I'm sure he will love it."

Hercules blushed and quickly ran out of the shop, Mai quickly following with a final swish of her tail. Canada sighed and jumped up onto the counter. Gilbert frowned and walked over to him. "Mai… Wasn't that the name of that random chick in cosplay?"

Canada tilted his head and frowned. "I don't remember anyone coming in here dressed in cosplay… That's just a little odd don't you think?"

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Well yeah but-"

"TIME TO WORK!" Cried Canada. He gave Gilbert a feather duster and beamed. "Find a dusty room and get to work!"

Gilbert sighed and walked off. "Fine, fine, fine… Just don't smoke anymore pot."

"Smoked the last of it a few minutes ago." Said Canada. "All this taking is killing my buzz…"

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Gilbert sighed as he walked down the hall. He had second thoughts about working for a boss that was obviously high at the moment but anything was better than home work. He decided to see how far the hall actually went. He had only ever gone into the first few rooms.

The further he walked away from the front of the shop the staler the air became and the darker it seemed. Sure there were lights and everything but it just seemed darker, almost foreboding really. He walked over to a door and frowned. It looked just like any other door in the place, slightly chipped paint on the wooden door, wooden frame slightly warped. He opened it up and poked his head inside.

It led down to a basement. It was pitch black, impossible to see what was down there. Gilbert shrugged and walked down there. He kept one hand on the wall and reached out with his other hand to try and find a light. Eventually he found a light switch and turned it on.

The basement was covered in dust. There were several shelves against the wall filled with jars containing something black and oily, boxes and scraps of metal were all over the ground covered in dust and cobwebs. It didn't look like anyone had been down there for years and years. Right in the middle of the room was something covered with a huge white sheet. Gilbert frowned. The white sheet was the only thing that wasn't covered in dust. It looked almost new.

Gilbert reached out to pull away the sheet when he heard the door creek open. He instinctively jumped behind a dusty box and face palmed. '_Why am I hiding? Canada knows I'm here right? Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid!_'

Canada walked down into the basement and ran his fingers through his hair. He looked tired. He walked right over to the white sheet and pulled it off revealing an elaborately decorated wooden closet. Canada ran his fingers over the finally polished doors and sighed sadly. "It doesn't matter does it?" He whispered, almost as if he was talking to the closet. "No matter what I do… No matter how busy I keep myself… No matter how much pot I smoke… No matter how much I drink… I'll always remember everything huh?" He rested his head against the door and bit his bottom lip. "It isn't fair…"

Gilbert peeked out from his hiding spot and frowned. '_What the hell is he doing?_'

Canada moved away from the closet and walked over to the shelves with the black jars. He frowned and picked up one of them. "Everything you did to me…" He whispered. "None of it was worth it… None of it was worth it if it meant this… Living with this sickness, this disease, this… this abomination." He put it back on the shelf and sat down on a dusty box, his head in his hands. "I've lost everything…" He muttered.

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. '_Okay… should I tell him that's I'm here or see if he says anything else?_'

Canada sighed and looked over at the closet again. He walked back over to it and touched the bronze door knob. He seemed to be contemplating weather to open it or not. After what seemed like forever he sighed and turned away. "Later… Not today." He whispered as he walked up the stairs.

When he was gone Gilbert moved out of his hiding place and dusted himself off. "What's up with that?" He muttered. He walked over to the closet and took in the design in detail; twisted vine-like twists decorated the corners, floral engravings accented the corners, there were small birds carved into the main panels of the door. Even though it was beautiful it seemed to hold a sense of something much darker.

He reached out and pulled it open. Inside was nothing. '_The hell? Nothing's in here? But he made such a huge fuss over it before!_' He closed it and decided he may as well look through the boxes while they were there.

He opened up one box to find it was filled with old toys. Tin soldiers and such. He was slightly disappointed but continued to look through more boxes. He didn't find anything to interesting. Just bits and pieces of this and that. Since they weren't in the shop Gilbert could only assume that they might belong to Canada.

He frowned and sighed. "Doesn't he even have a photo album or something? It's freaking impossible to find out anything about this guy." He looked down at his watch and jumped. "Holy shit! Seven already? I need to get home."

He quickly made his way out of the basement and down to the front of the shop. '_Have I really been down there for hours? It doesn't seem like that long really._'

He poked his head into an open door. "Hey I'm knocking off now… What the hell?" There were two men in white cloaks that covered their faces, one of them was holding Canada's arms behind his back and the other had a bottle and a rag in his hand. They turned to Gilbert and froze.

Canada looked at Gilbert with wide eyes. "Run Gilbert." He said. "Get the hell out of here and call the police!" The man with the rag growled and punched Canada in the stomach before shoving the rag into his face. Canada whimpered and inhaled the fumes from the chemical soaked rag. Slowly his eyelids fell over his eyes and he went limp.

Gilbert gulped and turned to run but there was another hooded figure standing behind him. He grabbed Gilbert and slammed his head against the door frame knocking him out. As he slowly slipped out of consciousness he felt himself being lifted and carried out of the room. The last thing he saw was Kuma peeking out from behind a box with wide eyes.

Gilbert groaned and closed his eyes. '_Shouldn't have gone to work today…_'

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Yeah… Please review?


	9. Brother Hood

**Shinigami-cat: **Yeah… Just a waring there is some graphic violence right near the end. Don't say I didn't warn you… I OWN NOTHING!

**Brother Hood**

Gilbert opened his eyes and groaned. His head felt like someone had hammered a nail into it. He slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes. He was in a small stone room. It looked like a cell. "Shit… what happened?"

"I'd say we got kidnapped by the KKK." Said Canada.

Gilbert looked over at him and frowned. "The Kook Klux Klan?" Asked Gilbert. "Aren't they those guys that killed a bunch of black people because they were racist?"

Canada shrugged. "Yeah… I was just going by what they were wearing. Probably not the KKK."

Gilbert sighed and stood up. "So… where are we?"

Canada shrugged and leaned against the wall. "Well… judging by the fact that we are in a mausoleum and the only grave yard that has a mausoleum near here is that one near here is the one near that huge gothic style church… I'd say that's where we are."

Gilbert's eyes went wide. "Wait… we're in a mausoleum? As in there are dead bodies in the walls and stuff?"

"Yep." Said Canada. "Do you feel it?"

"Feel what?" Asked Gilbert.

Canada bit his lip and scratched his head. "I don't know… It's just weird. Kind of like an energy… a powerful one. Like what you feel when you're about to die or just… I don't know… It's just a weird energy…" He sighed and looked away. "Sorry you got involved in this."

Gilbert shrugged. "Yeah well who are these guys?"

Canada shrugged. "I honestly don't know. They just walked in and chloroformed me! What's up with that?"

"So they just took you?" Asked Gilbert. "What the hell? Why would they take you and not all your expensive stuff?"

"I don't know." Said Canada. "It's not like my families rich or anything… I don't know anything important… All in all I'm just a regular guy… Wonder what they are going to do to us? They seemed like they were part of a cult."

"A cult?" Gulped Gilbert. "Crap! They're going to kill us! Cut us up and use our guts to tell the future! We're screwed!"

Canada chuckled. "Use our guts to tell the future? You're living in the dark ages Gilbert. No one does that anymore… besides… it's a bunch of nonsense… Tarot cards are much more accurate than that."

Gilbert frowned. "Tarot cards are the ones with the pictures that mean stuff like the lovers and death?"

Canada nodded. "Yeah. But the death card doesn't mean death at all. It just means change. Nothing more than that… well depending on the other cards that go along with it but still… Wonder what's going to happen to us?"

"Pretty sure we're going to die." Said Gilbert.

Canada shook his head. "No. We are not going to die. I promise you, I won't let them kill you. They won't harm you. You don't deserve something like this to happen to you… No one does."

The sound of footsteps made them both look up. Two men in white hooded cloaks walked over to them. "Hands behind your backs." One of them hissed.

Gilbert was about to lash out at them when Canada grabbed his arm. "Just do what they say." Said Canada calmly. "We'll be fine just as long as we do what they say. Understand?"

"You should listen to him." Said one of the men. Canada turned around and one of the men tied up his arms. They did the same to Gilbert and led them outside. The night air was blistering cold, the clouds hardly blanketed the sky and there was thick fog on the ground barely showing the tomb stones.

Gilbert frowned as he looked at the large gothic style church they were walking towards. He never liked churches, especially that Old Catholic church back in Germany. The nuns and the priests that were there were never nice to him. They called him a problem child. Later on he realized it was because he was albino and superstition dictated that albinos were demons.

The men lead Canada and Gilbert into the front of the church. About forty men in matching white hooded cloaks were standing in the main hall of the church holding metal spears and standing in rows. At the front, standing in front of the alter was a man wearing the same cloak but it had gold trim and he was holding a sceptre in one hand. Gilbert sighed. '_Yep… definitely a cult._'

The men pushed Gilbert and Canada down to their knees and joined the rest of the hooded figures. Gilbert looked over at Canada. He was looking directly at the hooded Priest in front of them. His eyes seemed to be blazing and he looked like he was in deep concentration and maybe a little confused. "What's up?" Whispered Gilbert.

Canada frowned. "I don't know." He whispered. "I just think that Priest looks familiar… but I don't know why."

The Priest slammed his sceptre against the ground. "We are the Holy crusaders. The judgers of heresy. For the past seven hundred years we have hunted down witches and heretics in the name of our lord and father."

Gilbert sighed. '_Great… Religious nut jobs._'

"Who are these people?" Asked the Priest.

"The man called the silver haired monster Gilbert." Called out a voice. "You can tell just by looking into his red eyes that he is the spawn of Satan himself."

"FUCK YOU!" Yelled Gilbert. "I'M FUCKING ALBINO! I WAS BORN LIKE THIS YOU IDIOTS!"

"SCILENCE DEMON!" Yelled the Priest. "Who is this other man?"

"A witch." Said another man. "He has been seen talking to black cats and these tools of corruption were found in his possession." A man opened up a wooden box and tipped out a bunch of cards.

Canada frowned. "I thought I sold the last of those tarot cards to that Romanian kid a few months ago… Guess I was wrong."

The Priest slammed the sceptre into the ground. "The trial shall now begin!" He pointed his sceptre towards Gilbert. "Do you believe in magicians?"

Gilbert frowned. Honestly he wasn't sure anymore. What with Canada seeming to cast magic and stuff. But he just went with his gut feeling. "No…?"

"HA!" Cried the Priest. "IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE IN MAGICIANS, THEN YOU DENY THE VERY EXISTANCE OF DEVILS! THEREFORE YOU ARE A DEMON!"

Gilbert's eyes went wide. "What?"

The Priest looked over at Canada. "What is your name?"

Canada glared at the Priest. "What's it to you?"

"Impudent boy!" Growled the Priest. "Do you believe in magicians?"

Canada shrugged. "So what if I do?" There was a murmur amongst the crowd.

"SCILENCE!" Yelled the Priest. "How did you come to know this demon?"

Canada smirked and winked. "Not telling. It's a secret."

Gilbert sighed. '_Canada… You aren't making this any better… We are doomed for sure._'

"THIS MAN IS A WITCH!" Cried the Priest. "I HAVE NO DOUBT!"

Canada sighed and made himself as comfortable as he could on the floor. "Okay look here Priest. I lose no matter what I say. I'm a witch if I believe in them and I'm a witch if I don't. Technically I would be a warlock not a witch. You guys haven't changed a bit in seven hundred years."

"SHUT UP WITCH!" Yelled the Priest.

"What are you going to do if I am a witch?" Sneered Canada. "Are you going to burn me alive or something?" The crowd began to whisper.

The Priest growled and turned his attention back to Gilbert. "The man has made his confession now it is time to make yours!"

"What are you talking about?" Asked Gilbert. "I'm not a witch, warlock or a demon!"

The Priest growled and gestured to his followers. "Torture him. Make him confess."

"WAIT WHAT?" Cried Gilbert as some of the men grabbed him. He began to kick and thrash around. "LET ME GO YOU KOOK KLUX KLAN HOODED FREAKS! I'M NOT A DEMON!"

"THE THUMB SCREWS!"

"HOT IRON POKERS!"

"KNIVES!"

"USE THE RACK!"

"BEAT HIM!"

"STAB HIM!"

"NO!" Yelled Canada. He managed to jump to his feet and rushed towards the men holding Gilbert. "LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

One of the men lunged towards Canada with a spear in hand and impaled him. The spear went right through him going in through his stomach and out the other side. Canada gasped and stumbled backwards, bumping into a statue of Mary. The statue wobbled, swayed and fell down burying Canada in a pile of stone. Gilbert's jaw dropped. "Canada… You killed him…"

The Priest began to laugh. "You see? The Lord himself has judged this witch to death!" The followers began to cheer and laugh. But their victory was short lived when the stones started to move.

Canada stood up on shaky legs. His clothes were covered in dirt, his hair was messy, he was bleeding heavily from his head and the spear was still sticking out of his side. Canada grabbed the spear and ripped it out spraying blood all over the floor. "I couldn't…" Growled Canada. "I couldn't have lived as long and suffered as much if I could've died this easily." Canada glared at them. He eyes were a dark murky purple, almost black, with hint of blood red. With the bloodied spear in one hand he walked over to the men who were holding Gilbert and ripped him out of their arms. He easily pulled off the ropes around Gilbert's arms and held him protectively in his arms. "He's mine."

Gilbert froze. '_What the fuck is going on? He should be dead. What the hell is this? Am I dreaming? I must be dreaming! I have to be dreaming! I have to! I just have to! FUCK I NEED TO WAKE UP!_'

"A MONSTER!"

"DEMON!"

"WITCH!"

"DEVIL!"

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?" Yelled the Priest. "KILL THEM! THE HEATHENS MUST BURN!" The men grabbed their weapons and surrounded them.

Canada chuckled darkly. "You think I would let myself get caught and not bring back up?" The man seemed to hesitate. Canada smirked. "Yeah… That's right. I planned this whole thing. I planned on getting caught by you guys as soon as I heard about you and I can bring you down with one word just one word."

"DON'T LISTEN TO HIM!" Yelled the Priest. "KILL THEM NOW!"

Canada shook his head. "So you don't believe me Priest? I swear if you don't let us go right now I will not be held responsible for my actions." No one backed off. Canada sighed. "Don't say I didn't warn you… KUMAJIRO!"

Suddenly the ground began to tremble and the very support beams began so quiver. "HE'S SUMMONED A DEMON!"

"A MONSTER!"

"A HELL HOUND!"

With a crash the doors to the church fell to the ground with a crunch, sending splinters of wood flying everywhere. Standing there was a giant polar bear; teeth bared and dripping with saliva, eyes black as night and its claws were digging into the stone floors. "HOLY SHIT!" Yelled Gilbert. "THAT'S KUMAJIRO?"

Canada smiled and nodded. "Yeah. That's Kuma in his true form. Looking like a human is just a cover." He looked back over at the Priest and growled. "Okay Gilbert if you want to live you have to stay close Kuma. I'm going to try and get to the Priest. I have a feeling this holy man isn't all he seems."

Gilbert nodded. "Yeah, quick question… Did you actually plan this whole getting caught thing?"

"Nope." Said Canada. "I never even knew they existed until a few hours ago."

Gilbert face palmed. "Great…" Canada chuckled and moved so that Gilbert was standing behind him.

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?" Yelled the Priest. "KILL THEM NOW!"

The men rushed forward, weapons raised. Canada smirked and quickly began to beat his way to the alter. Knocking out and winding anyone who tried to stop him. Kuma was knocking over any one who got too close to him, sending them flying through the air. Then there was Gilbert, running around trying to avoid the psycho religious nuts while trying to avoid getting hit by Kuma. Suddenly one of the hooded men was in front of Gilbert holding his spear dangerously.

Gilbert gulped and ran for his life. "I'M NOT A DEMON! DON'T KILL ME DAMN IT! SON OF A BITCH MOTHER FUCKER! DON'T KILL ME!"

Suddenly Kuma jumped on top of him. Gilbert thought for sure he was going to be crushed to death but instead he was very much alive. It was as if Kuma was shielding him from the crazy religious freaks. But after a few moments Kuma moved off Gilbert and sat next to him. Gilbert looked around and gasped. The only people standing were Canada, Kuma, the Priest and himself. Everyone else was on the floor.

"YOU KILLED THEM!" Yelled the Priest. "YOU KILLED THEM ALL!"

Canada chuckled and leaned against the spear in his hands. "Actually I just knocked them out. The spell I just used basically releases anyone who is cursed or under an enchantment… It also knocks out any human within about half a mile that's why Kuma had to shield Gilbert. How are you by the way Gilbert?"

Gilbert glared at Canada. "A giant fucking polar bear almost squashed me! WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK?"

Canada smiled. "Good to know." He turned his attention back to the Priest and smirked. "Now here's the question… How come you're still awake? You should be unconscious… That is unless I was right and you aren't human."

"BLASPHEMY!" Screamed the Priest. "LIES AND BLASPHEMY! I AM HUMAN! YOU ARE A MONSTER! A CREATURE MADE BY THE DEVIL! YOU ARE MONSTERS! ALL THREE OF YOU!"

Canada sighed sadly. "What happened to you?" He asked. "Blasphemy? Your kind has no need for that word… Noor do they understand the concept of religion. They just live to follow the bloodied orders of their master. Have you gone completely insane?"

"YOU ARE THE ONE WHO IS INSANE!" Yelled the Priest. "YOU ARE MONSTERS! SENT BY THE DEVIL HIMSELF!"

Canada shook his head. "You have it the wrong way around. Everyone here apart from you is human… Well Kuma is an exception. He's a kind of talking polar bear thing… But that doesn't matter at the moment. The point is _You_ are the monster sent by the Devil… Hell even the word Devil doesn't describe the monster that thing really is."

"LIES!" Screamed the Priest. "YOU ARE THE MONSTER YOU-"

"SHUT UP!" Yelled Canada as he thrust the spear forwards going right through the Priest and through the alter, fixing him in place. Canada looked at him and frowned. "You should have burst into flames. What gives?" He reached up and pulled off the Priest's hood to revile a pair of glazed over sunken eyes set in the skull of a creature with old leathery skin.

Gilbert's jaw dropped. "Plague…" He whispered.

Canada chuckled darkly. "Yep definitely a Plague. I knew from the moment I saw you, you weren't human." The Plague began to thrash around and claw at the spear in his chest trying to free himself. Canada sighed and scratched his chin. "But here's something I don't get… If you are a Plague that should have killed you. You should be a pile of ashes by now. Did your master give you some kind of power or-" Canada's eyes lit up. "That's it. You have the Spirit stone."

"What the fuck is a Spirit stone?" Growled Gilbert.

Canada quickly ran over to one of the unconscious men and pulled a knife out of their pocket. "The Spirit stone is one of a set of five. Each stone is very powerful and gives off a weird kind of energy that affects the people and things around them according to what kind of stone they are. The Spirit stone affects someone's spiritual beliefs and twists it into something fearful." He turned back to the Plague and spun the knife in his hand. "In other words… If a Plague was able to get its hands on one it could warp and twist the minds of anyone it chose hence the number of people here, but the stones power works two ways… It'll turn its power on whoever is using it. They forget all about who they are and turn to the closest religious icon. Becoming obsessed with protecting all that it stands for. For this one it was the church. It could have very easily been a mosque or a synagogue he saw when he got the stone."

"DIE YOU DEMON SCUM!" Yelled the Plague. "YOU WILL ALL DIE AT HIS HAND AND ROT IN HELL!"

Canada just laughed sadistically. "Yes, yes, yes. That's all you can say huh? Just die! Die, die, die. And all that jazz! Same old same old! How can I take any of you seriously when that's all you yell at me! You're going to pay for this blah, blah, blah, I'll kill you, blah, blah, blah. And more bullshit." He held the point of the knife in front of the plagues eye. "Now… where might you have hidden that stone? They usually get absorbed into the body so… is it in your brain? Or maybe it's in your chest somewhere?" Canada smirked and took off his hoodie. He threw it across the room and giggled. "You know what Plague… You kidnapped me and Gilbert, accuse us of being things we are not, attempt to torture Gilbert, had your men stab and crush me… So please excuse me if I enjoy this just a little too much."

Gilbert frowned. "What are you going to do Canada?"

Canada laughed and knelt down in front of the Plague. "Just going to perform a little bit of cosmetic surgery Gilbert. All those with a weak heart please leave the church now… Okay then I'll get started." He slammed the knife into the Plague's stomach. The Plague screamed. Canada giggled. "Does it hurt? Good. I couldn't bare it if you weren't in agony."

Gilbert's eyes went wide and his jaw dropped. '_Holy shit! He's going to rip that thing apart!_'

Canada pulled out the knife and slammed it into the Plague's leg. When the knife was secure he reached up and slipped his fingers into the wound he made. He giggled a little and ripped away the skin. The Plague screamed and thrashed around as his guts fell to the floor in a bloodied heap. Canada just smirked and pulled at the slick intestines until they were torn out of its body.

Canada quickly glanced at them and threw them aside like they were nothing. "Am I right in thinking that you won't die until I rip that stone from your body?"

The Plague growled. "Yes."

Canada's eyes went wide and he laughed hysterically. "BRILLIANT! I CAN TORTURE YOU FOR HOURS ON END AND YOU WON'T DIE! HOURS OF FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY!" He reached into the Plague and ripped out its liver and kidneys. With everything he ripped out blood sprayed out of the Plague and onto Canada, but he was too lost in his own world to notice or care. "ARE YOU HAVING FUN YET?"

The Plague chuckled darkly. "Your family is burning." He hissed.

Canada ripped the knife out of the Plagues leg and slashed off its arm. "Don't talk about my family." He hissed darkly. "I've learnt long ago that you monsters will do and say anything to get to a person. Your words mean nothing to me."

The Plague laughed darkly, blood starting to drip out of its mouth. "Yet you get move violent when I say it… I heard your brother screaming before I came here. He was so close to death."

Canada chuckled. "Jokes on you I talked to him just before your buddies grabbed me today."

That wiped the smile of the plagues face. "But how?"

"It's called a phone." Hissed Canada. He slammed the knife into the Plagues chest and pulled down the knife. The sound of cracking bones filled the air along with screams. Canada slammed the knife into the Plagues shoulder and almost playfully moved his fingers around the open wound before he shoved his arm inside up to his shoulder. The Plague screamed as blood began to pour out of his mouth. Canada just giggled and pulled out a chunk of lung and held it up to the Plague's face. "Got your lung! Got your lung!"

Gilbert could fell his stomach turn as he watched the horror unfold in front of him. '_This isn't happening!_' He thought frantically. '_Canada wouldn't do that! He's just like Matthew! Matthew wouldn't do that! Canada can't be doing this!_'

Canada dropped the chunk of lung and reached back inside and quickly pulled out another organ. The Plague's shrivelled, beating heart. As it beat thick blackish red blood flowed out of it. Canada looked at it and smirked. "It's in here isn't it? The stone is in your heart."

"Yes…" Hissed the Plague. "Just remove the stone and kill me already."

Canada laughed. "Why would I do that? I'm just getting started! There are so many things I still want to do to you before I kill you." He shoved his fingers into the Plagues eyes and swirled them around before ripping them out. The Plague screamed in agony.

"STOP IT!" Screamed Gilbert. "JUST KILL IT ALREADY! JUST FREAKING KILL IT!"

Canada growled and turned to Gilbert. His eyes were almost blood red. "SHUT UP! YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THESE FUCKING MONSTERS DID TO EVERYONE I LOVED! MY FAMILY! MY FRIENDS! I LOST EVERYTHING BECAUSE OF THEM! THEY NEED TO SUFFER AND DIE LIKE THE SCUM THAT THEY ARE! THOSE DOGS HAVE TO DIE! JUST DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE!" Canada breathed heavily as a silence filled the room.

The Plague chuckled darkly. "You would make a good Plague."

Canada turned back to the Plague and gritted his teeth. "I'm nothing like you. I'm better than you."

"You torture another life for fun." Whispered the Plague. "We are the same."

Canada's eyes widened. He looked down at his hands and gulped. "No…" He whispered. "I'm nothing like you…" He dropped the knife, grabbed the heart in both hands and ripped it apart. A small purple stone fell to the floor and the Plague burst into blue flames. Once it was ashes Canada picked up the stone and pocketed it. "Kuma make sure everyone here is still alive… I'm going to go find some holy water or something… anything to get rid of this blood." Canada walked down into a back room leaving Kuma and Gilbert.

Gilbert looked over at Kuma and jumped. Kuma was now back to looking like a human. He stood up and started to check the pulses of the people on the floor. "So you're a polar bear?" Asked Gilbert.

Kuma shrugged. "Sort of… I'm just his pet really."

Gilbert nodded. "Okay… but what happened to Canada?"

Kuma sighed sadly. "His sickness. He can't control his anger when things get to overwhelming… He should have just ripped out its heart and taken the stone. But it can't be helped."

Canada walked back out of the back room blood free. He pulled his hoodie back on and walked to the door. "Kuma, Gilbert. Let's go before the cops show up."

Kuma stood up and followed Canada out the door but Gilbert was stuck sitting on the floor. He couldn't believe what was happening. What did happen. Everything was just like something out of a horror movie. '_This… This isn't real… It can't be… It just can't…_'

Canada looked back at Gilbert and sighed. "I realize this is a huge shock for you, but you need to come with me right now. If you don't the police will find you and arrest you. And trust me when I tell you that they will never believe that a Plague manipulated over forty men into kidnapping and attempted torture and that I a humble pawn shop owner used magic to knock them out and ripped apart said Plague apart in order to retrieve a stone that doesn't exist... Kuma help him to his feet."

Kuma walked over to Gilbert and pulled him to his feet. "We need to go." Whispered Kuma. "It's not like we can do anything now. We have to go."

Gilbert nodded and followed Kuma and Canada outside. It was still dark outside. "We'll just head back to the shop, give Gilbert some time to calm down."

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Blah… Long chapter is long… Please review?


	10. Four stones

**Shinigami-cat: **Well time for some explanations… I OWN NOTHING!

**Four stones**

Gilbert sat across from Canada at the kitchen table. Kuma put two cups of hot chocolate in front of them before walking over to the corner of the room and sitting down. Canada put the stone on the table and drank deeply from the cup. "Thanks Kuma… You feeling any better Gilbert?"

Gilbert shook his head and looked down at his hands. He felt like he was going to be sick. The images of Canada ripping that Plague to shreds filled his head. He pulled up his sleeve slightly and moved his bandage away. He picked at a scab slightly. "This is insane." He muttered. "This can't be happening. You used magic. I mean I saw you in the park that one time but I really hoped I was imagining it because well…"

"You didn't want to believe it's true?"

"Yes!" Said Gilbert. "Magic shouldn't exist but it does! You're a freaking wizard! You can set stuff on fire just by saying a few words! You're freaking insane!"

"First of all, I'm not a wizard." Said Canada. "Secondly Harry Potter, Supernatural, The Exorcist, The Ring, Fairy tales, local legends, folk lore, Sloagh, tarot cards, magic, witches, wizards and all that stuff is not real. It's all fake. Completely garbage. It's not real."

Gilbert frowned. "What the fuck are you on about? You were saying some words and bam it caught on fire."

Canada laughed and took a sip of hot chocolate. "That wasn't magic."

"Then what the fuck was it?" Snapped Gilbert.

"Science." Said Canada.

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "Science? What the hell? That shit wasn't science."

Canada shrugged. "You just based your science on numbers. The science I was taught was based on words. Ever hear the phrase '_The pen's mightier than the sword?_' That was one of ours. Although it was originally '_The word's mightier than the sword._' But such is life." He took another sip and sighed. "Our science makes us seem like witches, chanting spells and using magic… But no, we are just a few people that know the right words, the right sound, the right shape."

"So you're saying you look like a witch, act like a witch but you aren't a witch?" Asked Gilbert.

Canada smiled. "Yep. Pretty much."

Gilbert glanced over at Kuma and frowned. "So… You actually know Kuma's name?"

Canada nodded. "Yeah… But words are power so I can't actually say his name. Same goes for him. If he says my name our contract is broken and he will die."

Gilbert's eyes went wide. "So if you say his name Kuma turns into a giant polar bear and if he says your name he dies? What the hell kind of contract is that?"

"It's just our contract." Said Canada. "I wasn't the one that drew it up. It just appeared when I found Kuma. Just like what happens for lots of the others. They all have different contracts. For example I know this guy who has a pet bull and he is not allowed to wear red and the bull is not allowed to eat grass. Weird deal but it could have been worse."

"Wait… there are more of you?" Asked Gilbert.

Canada nodded and sighed. "Papa, dad, my brother and a hell of a lot of other people. We were all taught science in words instead of numbers. No I lie. We were mainly taught science in words but we also learnt the basics of numerical science. We can multiply any three digit numbers in our head in a snap.

"… 699 and 984."

"687,816." Said Canada. "Divided by 9 you get 76,424. Plus 67945 you get 144,369. Subtract 837 you get 143,532. Divided by 34 you get 4,221.5294. Multiplied by 34, plus 837 minus 67945, multiplied by 9 you get 687,815.91… Wait a second… That should have equalled 687,816… My calculation's a little off."

Gilbert's jaw dropped. "What the hell was that?"

"Maths? I'm pretty sure it was maths." Said Canada. He drank the last of his hot chocolate and sighed. "Is there anything else you want to know while I'm rambling on?"

Gilbert thought for a second. "Yeah… When I mentioned Plagues and Solagh before… Why didn't you say anything?"

Canada let out a long sigh. "Oh boy… Where to begin with that… Well the simple version is that Plagues and magical creatures so to speak are strange creatures that don't actually belong here… Okay that didn't really explain much but Plagues back in the day looked a heck of a lot different… Different heights and what not. They got grouped together as Sloagh when they aren't. It's hard to explain."

Gilbert frowned. "That explained nothing at all. Okay different question… That stone." He pointed to the Spirit stone. "What the hell is that?"

Canada frowned and looked at it. "That's the Spirits stone… Well I call it a stone but it's actually an amethyst. I have three other ones… An amber one I got from a Plague in Germany. It was setting houses on fire. A pearl in the Swiss Alps. A plague was knocking off mountaineers from well… mountains. Finally an emerald from an Italian villa… Now an amethyst in a church. All I need now is the lapis lazuli." He drummed his fingers on the table and glanced over at Kuma. "Hey can you bring me the case for this? I don't want to lose it again."

Kuma nodded and quickly ran off to get the case. When Kuma was gone Gilbert looked over at Canada. "Again? Meaning you lost it before?"

Canada shrugged. "Well… No one is meant to use the stones and I kind of dropped the case. The damn thing wasn't locked properly so they just scattered everywhere." Kuma walked back into the room and put a small square wooden box in front of Canada. "Thanks Kuma." Canada opened the box and put the amethyst inside. He turned the box around and pushed it in front of Gilbert. "Look but don't touch."

Gilbert looked into the box. Inside were some of the most amazing jewels he had ever seen. The first thing that caught his attention the stone in the bottom right corner of the box. It was the topaz; bright orange with areas of dark orange and red. The way the light reflected off its glossy, flawless surface made it looked like it was on fire.

His eyes were then drawn to the stone sitting next to it in the bottom left corner. The emerald; a deep green with light tints. It reminded Gilbert of a rainforest. It was beautiful.

He then looked up at the pearl; it was a stunning white colour with a rainbow shine that seemed to wrap and wind itself around the jewel. It was kind of hypnotic really.

Then lastly Gilbert looked up at the amethyst in the middle at the top of the box; it was a glimmering violet colour that sparkled and shone, yet at the same time seemed to suck up in at the same time and bore into your soul. He glanced away from it and looked to where the lapis lazuli was meant to go. There was a small hollow in the red velvet. "Why are they so important?" Asked Gilbert. "What happens if you have all of them?"

Canada thought for a moment and shrugged. "Legend says when all five stones are brought together in the shape of a pentagram anything can happen. Just close your eyes and make a wish then it comes true."

Gilbert looked at the stones and bit his lip. "Anything? Even bring someone back to life?"

Canada took the box of stones back from Gilbert and closed it. "No. The dead can never be brought… No matter how much we want them too… Who do you want to bring back?"

Gilbert bit his lip and looked down at his hands. "Well… obviously there's my mum and dad… then my step mum too…"

Canada raised an eyebrow. "Mind if I ask?"

Gilbert sighed. "My dad never really talked about it but… apparently my mum was in a plane crash when she was pregnant with me. It was apparently a miracle I was still alive. After a few months she started to die and they induced the birth. She was able to name me before she flat lined."

"That's horrible." Said Canada. "I couldn't even imagine what that's like."

Gilbert chuckled darkly. "Well don't. My dad on the other hand… while my mum was pregnant he had an affair with the woman that became my step mum. He married her then eight months later Ludwig was born."

"So he's you half-brother? Interesting."

Gilbert shrugged. "Yeah well the stupid bastard set himself on fire and almost killed us all. That's when we moved in with our grandfather… Ludwig's grandfather. Our step mum had our last names changed to hers for some reason… I think grandpa just wanted the Beilschmidt name or something stupid like that… Then my step mum was mauled to death by wild dogs…"

Canada's jaw dropped. "They… Oh my god… That… that's horrible! All of them just… Oh man…"

Gilbert nodded, not looking up at Canada. "Yeah… for a long time I thought I was cursed. After all, my mum died when she gave birth to me… My dad died in the same house I was in… My step mum got mauled to death by dogs when she was looking for me… But then… Never mind."

Canada frowned. "No go on please. I won't judge you or make fun of you or anything like that."

"Fine." Said Gilbert. "But you have to tell me something about you after."

Canada nodded. "Fair enough. Please continue."

"Well… All my life I've been called a monster and stuff because well red eyes and all that. I was actually starting to believe them but then I met someone… special."

"A girl?" Asked Canada.

Gilbert glanced at Canada. It hurt to hear him say that. He shook his head. "No. I'm gay… Well I didn't think I was gay until I met him. I was just never interested in girls. I mean they are nice and everything but I just can imagine myself in a relationship with one you know?"

Canada nodded. "I understand."

"Well anyway I met this guy and everything changed." Said Gilbert. "He just lit up my world. He just… I fell for him. I fell for him hard. You know I thought I had caught a break for once but I'm cursed so… The sea took him. Now his brother is breathing down my neck wanting blood and I'm back in hell."

Canada frowned. "You aren't curse. I can tell when someone is curse and you I can guarantee aren't cursed. Very unlucky yes, but cursed? No."

"Somehow that doesn't make me feel any better." Muttered Gilbert.

Canada sighed and rolled up his sleeve and laid his arm down on the table. "Look at the inside of the elbow."

Gilbert frowned and looked at the inside of Canada's elbow. "What am I looking at?"

Canada looked at his arm and frowned. "Run your fingers along it." Gilbert shrugged and ran his index finger along the inside of Canada's elbow. He could feel a few little bumps.

Gilbert's eyes went wide. "Are those what I think they are?"

"Scars." Said Canada. "Healed scars from when I attempted suicide."

"You attempted suicide?" Asked Gilbert in disbelieve. "Why?"

"I had enough of no one caring about me." Said Canada. "I wasn't brought up in the most loving of families and I just had enough of it so I decided to end it… I didn't count on my Papa walking in on me."

Gilbert looked back down at his wrists and frowned. "Were you a cutter too? Is that why you don't want me to cut?"

Canada nodded. "Yeah… Cutting eases the pain for a short time but it isn't a long term solution. Most of the time you become dependent on pain and that's no way to live."

Gilbert shrugged and got to his feet. "Yeah well… Tonight's been really messed up I should probably head home. I don't want West, Francis, Antonio or grandpa to worry about me."

Canada shook his head. "It's too late to walk home. Just stay here tonight. I'll call your grandpa and tell him what's happening."

"Are you going to mention getting kidnapped by a bunch of people being manipulated by a Plague?"

"I was thinking that could be our secret." Said Canada. "Do you have school tomorrow?"

"Nope. Therapy." Said Gilbert.

"Just one question about that." Said Canada. "When you first started working here I noticed you were acting like someone who belonged in a mental asylum. Mind if I ask why you aren't in one?"

Gilbert shrugged. "I stayed the standard two week period. My grandpa is just extremely rich. Old money holds a lot of respect."

Canada nodded. "I see… Well since you're staying here tonight just go sleep in my bed. I'll go sleep on the mattress we keep somewhere. Choose whatever you want to wear to bed or just wear what you're wearing. I don't care." Canada stood up and went over to the phone.

Gilbert nodded and walked up stairs to Canada's room. He walked into the room and walked over to the wardrobe and pulled out a large red maple leaf hoodie. He held it in his hands for a moment and let a tear slip out of his eyes. '_Why did I tell him all that? He didn't have to know… I just spilled out everything… Why is he so easy to talk to? Why does he look like him? He just… This sucks…_'

He took off his shirt and pulled on the hoodie. It was rather large on him. The sleeves were too long and it came down to his knees. He shrugged and took off his pants and sat down on the bed. He yelped slightly in surprise when he sunk down into the mattress a little. He didn't expect that at all.

He shifted further back onto the mattress and crawled under the quilt. He felt like he was in a marshmallow. At that moment Canada walked in, lightly covered in dust. Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "What happened to you?"

Canada smiled and shrugged. "A box fell down and covered me in dust when I was getting the mattress." He walked over to the wardrobe and grabbed a baggy button up shirt. "Your grandpa said I had to bring you back by eleven at the latest so you can sleep in tomorrow."

Gilbert half smiled. "Sweet. I haven't slept in in ages."

Canada chuckled and walked out of the room. "Okay. Just sleep in for as long as you need."

When Canada was gone Gilbert sighed and laid back down, resting his head on the pillows. '_What am I going to do? This… Everything… It's just… What can I do? I still don't know if I can trust him. I mean he ripped that Plague apart like it was nothing… He says its science but that's bullshit… And those stones. He said that you can make any wish with them. But he also said that no one is meant to use them so why does he have them? Did he have them and make a wish or did they separate before he could?_' He sighed and sniffed the front of the hoodie. '_Should have guessed… Maple syrup and soap._'

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **… Well… Not sure how this chapter turned out… Please review?


	11. Forgotten dream

**Shinigami-cat: **Well… I OWN NOTHING!

**Forgotten dream**

Who knows what happens when we dream? Is it merely a manifestation of random memories, information, thoughts and desires, collected and rearranged in odd and unnatural ways? Some believe it's the brain's way of possessing everything that's happened after a long day's work. Few believe it means something more.

But can we ever say for certain where our dreams come from or what they mean… If they do mean something? They seem like weird and twisted gateways into fantastic worlds, that can decay and crumble before our very eyes.

What about when we dream of falling? Are we falling emotionally or is it a sensation, a symbol of what we feel during the day in our waking lives? Losing control over our destiny or is it just some random, meaningless experience? But are we falling for another reason?

Can our dreams warn us of the future? A terrifying experience of what is to come? Are they trying to speak to us through the language of symbols? But we are unable to translate their meaning. Dreams are unstable and unpredictable. Attempts to translate our dreams are destined to fail.

Yet sometimes there is a strange feeling we get even after we wake up. A feeling we get and when that dream comes true that makes us jump up and say, '_I've been here before, but I can't remember why._'

Déjà vu, we call it. Some who believe in Sooth Sayers, Oracles and Fortune tellers wrongly call it a prophetic dream. A window into the future about something to come.

There is no telling if a dream might be significant, nine hundred and ninety-nine times you'll have a purposeless one. But then there is that thousandth dream. That one that will stay with you at night and haunt your waking hours. It is screaming out for you to hear what it is saying, begging, praying, crying, and pleading. But you aren't listening. You can't speak the language of symbols.

Maybe you are falling because you fell in life, so you continue to fall in your dream? Perhaps you are going to fall? Sadly you'll never know if you could have prevented it by listening to your dreams. Because no one ever listens to their dreams ever. They just fall through the void without thinking. Without feeling. Numb to all emotions and senses. Then one day they just look up and say, '_I've been here before!_'

But like a cruel twist of fate they never remember why… or what danger forgetting will lead to.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Gilbert slowly opened his eyes. He could feel something cold and metallic pressed up against the side of his face. Everything was pretty dark but he could hear the grind of rusted metal against metal. He slowly stood up and looked at what he was leaning on. It was a metal bar. He frowned and took a few steps back. His eyes widened as he took in its shape.

"A giant bird cage?" He whispered. "A giant bird cage… What the hell?"

He walked back towards it and looked inside. There was nothing much in there; an apple tree, a small pond and a swing. From where he was he could see a small figure of someone with their head down low. Their legs dangling lifelessly beneath them.

Gilbert frowned and began to walk around to the front of the cage. He pulled on the door and it slowly creaked open. The sounds of metal grinding against metal echoed around the room. When he had managed to make enough room to squeeze through he did. He slunk into the cage.

The first thing he noticed was the temperature change. It felt like it was absolute zero in there. He could see his breath leave his mouth as steam. Cautiously he walked over to the person on the swing.

When he was about arms-length away from the person he stopped and looked at them; their head was down, long greasy blond hair covered his face and cast a dark shadow over his face, his clothes were a faded grey and tattered, only a small stream of steam floated out of his mouth.

"Hey kid." Whispered Gilbert. "Are you okay? Do you need help?" The kid didn't even move. Gilbert frowned and touched the kid's shoulder. Even through his clothes Gilbert could tell he was freezing. "Damn you're ice cold… Let's get out of here."

Slowly the kid lifted his head and looked up at Gilbert with his large, dead, lifeless, violet eyes. Gilbert's eyes went wide and his jaw dropped. '_Oh god… Matthew!_'

Gilbert Grabbed Matthew by the shoulders and shook him. "Matthew! Come on, we need to get out of here! You're sick! We have to go now!" Matthew's head fell to the side and lolled around like a rag doll. That was when Gilbert first noticed the water slowly dripping out of the corner of his mouth. Gilbert's heart began to race. "Matthew…" He whispered. "Are you dying?" Matthew slowly closed his eyes and in the blink of an eye he turned into water. Leaving nothing but a puddle of water behind. Gilbert fell to his knees and began to cry. "I've lost everything!" He cried out to no one. "I have nothing left anymore!"

As more violent sobs wracked his body he curled up on the floor. Darkness seemed to consume him along with sorrow. '_Matthew… Birdie… My Birdie… My precious Birdie… I want to go with you… I want to be with you please… I'll jump, you just have to catch me when I fall… Please… I love you…_'

Suddenly a hand fell on his shoulder and he looked up; kind, loving, caring lavender eyes looking at him without pity, without hate, just love. Slowly Gilbert sat up and smiled. "Matthew." He reached out and held Matthew in his arms. There was something familiar, yet different about him. He couldn't place it but he didn't care. He just wanted to hold his Matthew in his arms and never let go. Then it hit him. He pulled back and looked into Matthew's eyes. He was close but not close enough. "Canada?"

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Gilbert's eyes snapped open and he fell out of the bed with a thump. "Ouch… not an awesome way to wake up… Now where the hell am I?" He slowly stood up and leaned against the soft mattress. Slowly the events of last night began to seeped into his mind. He groaned and face palmed. "Right… KKK lookalikes kidnapped us, tried to kill us, Canada went bat shit crazy and killed a Plague and Kuma is actually a polar bear… My therapist is going to have a field day."

He quickly pulled off the hoodie and grabbed his clothes from last night and pulled them on. They smelt a little like dirt and sweat. He sighed and walked down stairs. He paused for a second and sniffed the air. He could smell bacon, eggs and something sweet. He poked his head into the kitchen and grinned.

Canada had three pans going on the stove. One with bacon, one with a large omelette and one with pancakes. He had his iPod in and was humming along to some song. Soon there were plates piled high with bacon, egg and pancakes. He set them down on the table and went over to the fridge and grabbed a carton of orange juice. When he noticed Gilbert he smiled and waved him over. "Just in time for breakfast."

Gilbert sat down at the table and helped himself to the food. He piled his plates up high with pancakes. "Do you have any maple syrup?"

Canada grinned and put a large bottle of the stuff down on the table. "My name is Canada isn't it? What kind of human being would I be if I didn't have maple syrup?"

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "Human?"

Canada shrugged. "Human enough. I look like a human don't I?"

Gilbert rolled his eyes and drenched his pancakes in maple syrup. "Yeah… You look human but you can cast magic. Human's don't cats magic you idiot."

"Then I guess I'm kind of human." Said Canada as he poured himself a glass of orange juice.

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Yeah. Right. I really don't give a rat's ass if you're a freaking goldfish or a fruit bat." He ate some of the pancake and waved his fork at Canada. "But you saved my life last night so I'm happy for now… man you're a good cook."

Canada chuckled. "Well I did promise I wouldn't let anything happen to you so… And you should thank my Papa. He taught me how to cook… Papa…" Canada sighed and looked down at his plate. "I miss him…"

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "Why don't you go visit him?"

"I can't." Said Canada. "He lives in France… Or maybe London? It's hard to tell these days. Either way a day trip is out of the question."

"Oh…" Said Gilbert. "Same thing here… When I leave school I want to go see my mum and dad… At least I know where they are."

"What do you mean?" Asked Canada.

Gilbert shook his head. "Rather not say… It's personal."

Canada frowned but didn't ask any more questions. Instead he picked up a stuffed bear and put it on a chair. Gilbert frowned and looked at it. Suddenly the toy opened its mouth and yawned. "Who are you?"

Gilbert jumped in his seat. "Holy hell! Kuma can change sizes too?"

Canada nodded and put some bacon on a plate for Kuma. "Yeah. He has three forms; human, for obvious reasons. Giant polar bear, good for attacking enemies and such. Finally there is toy polar bear or as I like to call it fun size. He's easier to move around like this." He reached over and patted Kuma who grunted and chewed on some bacon.

Gilbert nodded slowly. "Right… What's the time?"

"About ten." Said Canada. "Don't worry I'll drop you home soon and you'll make it to your appointment in plenty of time."

Gilbert groaned and face palmed. "I hate going there. I hate talking about my feelings and crap! It's just pointless! I don't wanna go there anymore!"

"Then the answer is simple." Said Canada. "Stop cutting and you won't have to go."

Gilbert pouted. "I haven't cut myself in weeks. Last time my arms were even bleeding was two days ago when you grabbed me and went all psycho."

Canada blushed and looked away ashamed. "Sorry…"

Gilbert shrugged. "No big deal. I mean I wasn't the one dying on the floor. What the hell was that anyway?"

Canada shifted uncomfortably. "Well… There are diseases caused by bacteria and viruses that occur naturally in nature and then there's diseases caused by magic gone bad… That's what happened to me… Really, really bad magic."

Gilbert frowned. "Describe it."

Canada shrugged. "It's kind of like AIDS but on speed."

"You have AIDS?" Asked Gilbert with wide eyes.

"Technically it's super AIDS." Said Canada. "Imagine every treatment there is for AIDS, now I know there is no cure of it but there are some drugs people can take to help them but with me… Those treatments are about as useful as a freezer in Antarctica. I just have to deal with it."

"What does it do to you?" Asked Gilbert curiously.

Canada scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Well… First of all I get a horrible head ach so it affects my mood, then my immune system gets ripped to shreds for a moment. I can't control my body temperature and I usually end up freezing. After all that I usually end up vomiting this really gross thick, black, sticky snot like stuff. I store them in jars down in the basement because I can't burn them unless I want to end up poisoning an area the size of Russia… And I can't pour them down the sink unless I want to kill every fish in the sea."

Gilbert thought for a second and his eyes went wide. '_Those jars back in the basement… Oh man… There were so many of them._'

Canada sighed and stood up. "When you're done I'll take you home okay?"

Gilbert nodded and quickly finished off his pancakes. "Okay I'm done."

Canada smiled and grabbed his car keys. "Okay then let's get going. Oh and you can have the rest of the day off if you want."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

After another slow and drawn out session with his therapist Gilbert was back home lying upside down in an arm chair watching TV. He wasn't really paying attention to what was on. Day time TV sucked. As far as he knew he was watching some stupid soap opera where there were witches and humans and stuff. It looked like it had been made back in the seventies judging by the hair and the funny clothes.

He hadn't really been following the story line but as far as he could tell a good witch lost a potion that was making people relive their lives through visions of what could have been. Apparently one of the witches could have become a nun.

Soon the door opened and Ludwig walked in. He walked over to Gilbert and frowned. "Where were you last night?"

Gilbert shrugged. "I lost track of the time last night so Canada let me stay over."

"Why didn't you call?" Asked Ludwig.

Gilbert grinned. "Well I couldn't answer the phone because Canada and I happened to get kidnapped by a bunch of religious nut jobs who thought I was a demon and he was a witch. I freaked out a little when Canada started to rip into one of them but I'm alright now so calm down."

Ludwig rolled his eyes. "In other words you didn't have your phone charged?"

Gilbert chuckled and sat up properly. "You got it. How was school?"

Ludwig sighed. "Feli somehow got stuck on the school roof again, Francis and Antonio were asking about where you were last night and Kiku is now going out with Hercules."

Gilbert grinned. "Did he give Kiku that vase?"

Ludwig gave Gilbert a confused look. "How did you know?"

Gilbert laughed. "Don't look so confused West. He bought the vase from Canada's shop yesterday. Thank the lord Canada didn't try to hug him or something. He was so high yesterday…"

Ludwig raised an eyebrow. "He was on drugs?"

Gilbert nodded. "Yep. Apparently a whole lot of it too. He had the mega munchies. He kept asking me to order a pizza."

Ludwig frowned. "You shouldn't hang around stoners."

"But West!" Whined Gilbert. "It's either that or pay back all the money I owe him! I can't afford to West! I can't afford to!"

Ludwig rolled his eyes and walked off to his room. "Just as long as you don't smoke any I'll be happy."

Gilbert chuckled. "Okay West. Promise I won't get high. Besides he has a prescription for it."

"I don't care." Called Ludwig.

Gilbert rolled his eyes and walked off to the kitchen. He grabbed a can of coke and jumped up onto the bench. '_Well… things are definitely getting fucking weird. Wonder how long until everything goes to hell._'

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Blah… lame chapter is lame… Please review.


	12. Songs of sadness

**Shinigami-cat: **So I used the song '_White Sparrows_' by Billy Talent and '_Monsters_' by Sick Puppies… I OWN NOTHING!

**Songs of sadness**

"Stupid fucking tomato bastard." Hissed Lovino as he squirmed in Antonio's grip.

Antonio pouted and held into him tighter. "But Lovi! You're so cute! Your face is as red as a tomato!"

Gilbert and Francis chuckled at the amusing scene in front of them. They had all gone down to the park to hang out when Lovino happened to walk by. A few seconds later this all started to go down. "Get a room you two." Said Francis. "This is a public place you know."

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Says the guy who broke into a public pool with his latest booty call."

"That was at night." Pointed out Francis. "Not in broad daylight where everyone can see. I make plans. These two… not so much."

Lovino managed to pull himself away from Antonio and pouted. "Freaking hell bastard. I'm going home and don't you fucking follow me! I'll get the mafia to kill you!"

"But Lovi!" Whined Antonio. "I love you!" Lovino flipped him the bird and stormed off. Antonio grinned and walked back over to where Francis and Gilbert were and sat down. "He looks so cute when he's angry."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "You really are a masochist aren't you?"

"No I'm not!" Whined Antonio. "He just looks so cute when he blushes like that!"

"You have a death wish." Said Francis. "One day the mafia will come and get you!"

"Lovi wouldn't do that to me." Said Antonio. "He loves me too much to do that."

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Right… You just keep on believing that."

"You're not going to start bagging out love again are you?" Asked Antonio disappointedly.

Gilbert shook his head. "Nope. Why would I?" Antonio and Francis gasped in shock. Gilbert frowned. "What? What did I say?"

Francis pressed his hand against Gilbert's forehead. "Are you sick? Do you have a fever?"

"Are you dying?" Asked Antonio.

Gilbert rolled his eyes and pushed them away. "I'm fine! Seriously! I just have a new lease on life. My new motto is; roll with the punches and take each day as it comes."

Francis tilted his head in confusion. "What happened to you? You seem so much happier now."

Gilbert shrugged. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"How long has it been since you last cut?" Asked Antonio.

"A few weeks." Said Gilbert. "I just haven't felt the need too."

Antonio and Francis beamed. Antonio hugged Gilbert. "I'm so proud of you!"

"Me too!" Said Francis as he joined in the hug. "You realize you haven't been cutting since you started working at Maple and Birds? I wonder why that is…"

Gilbert pouted and rolled his eyes. "You guys are insane. Let me go! And you can go fuck yourself Francis."

Antonio smiled and laughed. "We're just so happy that you haven't cut in weeks!"

"This calls for a celebration!" Said Francis. "Shall we go down to a nice little café and celebrate? I hear that Café Sakura is doing quite well these days."

Gilbert frowned. "Ludwig hangs around there sometimes. Kiku's family owns it I think, or at least his family works there."

Antonio smiled and nodded. "Si. It's also karaoke on Monday's too."

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Fine I'll go there but I'm not singing."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

They walked into Café Sakura and were immediately submerged in a warm and welcoming atmosphere. Antonio slipped into an empty booth near the back and waved them over. Francis and Gilbert quickly sat down and waited to get served. While they waited they listened to several people perform karaoke. Some were good while others… not so much.

Soon a boy with long black hair tied back in a ponytail approached their table. He grabbed his note pad and frowned. "Oh it's you three aru."

Francis chuckled. "Hello Yao. How are you? Still not to upset about the explosion in the food tech room? I'm pretty sure Feliciano and Lovino were more upset than you were."

Yao rolled his eyes. "You three weren't the ones who had to clean it up aru." He pulled out his pen and looked around the table. "Are you three going to order something or not?"

Francis grinned and ordered for them. He knew what everyone would order off by heart so it was no big deal. Once Yao had everything written down he nodded and walked off. The boys started to talk about random stuff as they waited for their food. Suddenly sad sorrowful notes began to fill the café causing the boys to look over at the stage where the karaoke was set up. Gilbert's jaw dropped. It was Canada. '_What the hell is he doing here?_'

Canada's voice showed no signs of distress or sorrow. He simple stood on the stage with the microphone in hand. He face had fallen into a solemn expression that fit the song that was creeping through the speakers so well.

_Today I walked down our old street  
>Past the diner where we'd meet<br>Now I dine alone in our old seats  
>The cold wind blows right through my bones<br>And I feel like I'm getting old  
>But I wish I was getting old with you<br>_

Gilbert immediately recognized the tone of his boss's voice. It wasn't one of forced emotion that many would put on when singing a song of such intensity. No, this was raw emotion. Something he knew too well. It was like he was speaking from his heart.

_I held your hand when  
>We took shelter from the rain<br>She laughed as we picked out  
>Our children's names<br>_

"He's good…" Murmured Antonio from across the table. Gilbert nodded in agreement, but refused to move his gaze from Canada.

_White sparrows fell from heaven  
>And carried her away<br>Black arrows cut the strings of my heart  
>I kneel and pray<br>_

As he finished the chorus Gilbert quickly glanced around the café. He was pretty sure that everyone had stopped doing what they were doing to hear Canada pour out his heart to everyone. He sounded so vulnerable. It was heart breaking.

_Her clothes hang in the closet still  
>The phone sits on the windowsill<br>And every time it rings, it gives me chills  
>My heart just stopped when I was told<br>Doctor, doctor, on the phone  
>Said my love was never coming home<em>

Gilbert could feel his heart clench in his chest. The pain in Canada's voice was seeping through his body and winding its way around his soul. There was no escaping what he was saying.

Closing his eyes Canada continued on. Even though every note he sung sounded like it was going to break him. He slowly began to sway. It was like he was lost in his own world, caught up in the magic of the music.

_I hold your casket gently  
>Walking to the grave<br>Dark clouds eclipse  
>The sun won't shine again<br>_

There was a certain pain and bitterness to his voice that seemed to capture everyone that could hear him. It was almost horrific yet at the same time so pure and innocent the way the words fell from his lips.

_White sparrows fell from heaven  
>And carried her away<br>Black arrows cut the strings of my heart  
>I kneel and pray<br>_

Gilbert couldn't help but feel trapped by Canada's words. It almost seemed like he was singing to him, but he couldn't be. Canada didn't even know he was there, right?

_They gave her one more day  
>To say the words I couldn't say<br>I'm crying in pain, crying in pain  
><em>

The intensity of emotion was almost over whelming by this point. If you listened carefully you could hear someone sobbing slightly. Try to hold back their own emotions.

_And I'm not looking for answers  
>No, I'm not looking for answers<br>But dear God, why did You choose her?  
><em>

There was a definite tone of distress, frustration and hate on the last note that made his violet, lavender eyes burn like fire.

_White sparrows fell from heaven  
>And carried her away<br>Black arrows cut the strings of my heart  
>I kneel and pray<br>_

Canada looked down at his feet away from the audience, almost to pretend he was praying or hiding his own tears that might have been starting to show.

_They gave her one more day  
>To say the words I couldn't say<br>I'm crying in pain, crying in pain  
>Our love will remain, I'm crying in pain<em>

The song drifted off on its final note and there was silence. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence, it seemed to be more of one of respect for the emotion he showed. Canada stood there for a moment before shyly putting the microphone back and walking off stage.

As he walked off some kindly soul at the back stood and started applauding, this started a chain reaction and soon the whole café was applauding the now startled Canadian. Canada blushed and smiled as he walked over to the counter to order something to go. Several people patted him on the back on the way there.

Francis looked over at him and sighed. "What kind of tragedy would someone have to go through to sing something so heat breaking?" Suddenly their drinks were brought to the table.

"Something really bad." Said Antonio. "What do you think Gilbert?"

Gilbert frowned and looked away. "You guys realize that that's my boss right?"

Francis's jaw dropped. "What? Really? He looks like Matt-"

"Matthew." Said Gilbert. "Yes I know. But he sure as hell isn't him. He has a freaking tattoo on his chest and he kicks ass, kind of like Birdie during hockey season… or when he plays hockey… only much more like a monster…" Gilbert sighed sadly and put his head down on the table. "Birdie… I miss him."

Antonio smiled and patted Gilbert's shoulder. "Hey it's okay Gilbert. Just don't think about it. You need to do something to distract yourself."

Gilbert frowned and nodded. "You know what Antonio… You're right." He quickly stood up and walked towards the stage.

Francis grabbed his arm. "What are you doing?"

Gilbert smirked. "Well I need to do something to distract myself don't I? What could be more distracting then singing something in front of a crowd of people?"

Gilbert quickly chose a song and jumped up onto the stage. He grabbed the microphone and looked out into the crowd. He could see Canada still waiting for his coffee or whatever. He smirked and listened to the intro of the song. It was creepy and sounded foreboding. Yet the song seemed to fit what he felt at that moment so well.

_Somewhere inside this closet  
>Your whole life exists<br>An evil little secret  
>That keeps you so nervous<br>Your boarding up your windows  
>Act fettle are on the floor<br>But what you're keeping out is on the wrong side of the door  
><em>

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Canada whip his head around to look at the stage. He could see the surprise on his face. Gilbert just smirked and let his eyes burn into him as he sang the chorus.

_I know the reason you're running scared  
>I met the monster inside your head<br>You never know the feeling of being alive  
>It's not enough, it never stops coming<br>It's not enough, so take a breath, say good bye  
><em>

He held onto the microphone firmly and tapped his foot to the beat. The electric guitar and strong drum beat seemed to beat through him. And he let his eyes wander around the room.

_Your skin is crawling on you  
>The shadows on the ground<br>And now the room is spinning  
>Oh god what was that sound<br>The fear is paralysing  
>Trapped here inside yourself<br>Your will to leave is dying, is dying  
>You're dying<br>_

Gilbert glanced over at Canada. He was leaning against the back wall of the café watching Gilbert with what looked like amusement and maybe ever a little bit of confusion. Gilbert could feel his face getting warm as a light blush dusted his face. He looked away and tried to stop himself from blushing.

_I know the reason you're running scared  
>I met the monster inside your head<br>You never know the feeling of being yourself  
>It's not enough, it never stops coming<br>It's not enough, so take a breath, say good bye  
><em>

He looked over at Francis and Antonio who were watching him interest. He could see Francis raise an eyebrow. Gilbert mentally cursed himself. Francis must have seen the blush.

_You're dying down  
>Dying down<br>_

He looked back over at Canada and felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand tall. Canada's eyes were boring into him, like they were trying to figure out why he was singing up on the stage. He quickly looked away and concentrated on the back wall of the building.

_I know the reason you're running scared  
>I met the monster inside your head<br>You never know the feeling of being alive  
>It's not enough, it never stops coming<br>It's not enough, so take a breath, say good bye_

When the song was done Gilbert quickly put the microphone back and jumped off the stage. When he was back with Antonio and Francis he hit his head against the table. "I can't believe I did that… Fuck you guys."

"What did we do?" Asked Antonio.

"You didn't stop me from singing." Said Gilbert. "Now I feel like an ass…"

"Is that why you were blushing up there?" Asked Francis. "A little bit of stage fright?"

"Yeah… That's it." Said Gilbert numbly.

"You're a good singer Gilbert." Said Canada.

Gilbert jumped up and turned to Canada. "Holy hell, don't sneak up on people!"

Canada smiled and shrugged. "Sorry about that. But you have a nice voice."

"So do you." Said Antonio. "Where did you learn to sing like that? You sounded so good."

Canada blushed slightly and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah… singing just comes naturally to me. I guess it's just the predictability and repetition of word patterns and stuff."

"But word means nothing without emotion attached." Said Francis. He held his hand out to Canada and smiled sweetly. "Hello. I'm Francis and this is Antonio. I take it you're Gilbert's boss?"

Canada smiled and shook Francis's hand. "Nice to meet you and yeah I'm his boss until he pays off his debt."

Antonio chuckled. "Yeah. He's so clumsy."

"Shut up." Snapped Gilbert. "So what are you doing here Canada?"

Canada shrugged. "Just came to get a coffee and when I saw the karaoke I thought why not. Interesting song by the way Gilbert. Were you trying to send me a message?"

"Yeah." Said Gilbert. "I'm trying to tell you to stop being such a slave driver and give me more days off."

Canada pouted. "But if I do that how will you pay off the vase you broke before you turn fifty?" That shut Gilbert up. Canada chuckled. "Well if you excuse me I still have a shop to run. I'll see you tomorrow Gilbert."

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah… Tomorrow..."

Antonio smiled. "He seems pretty cool."

Gilbert shrugged. "Yeah I guess he's okay."

"Maybe that's why Gilbert's acting so happy these days." Said Francis knowingly. "This Canada seems to have melted Gilbert's heart of ice back to its normal self."

Gilbert kicked Francis under the table. "Shut up Francis. I don't love him."

Francis pouted. "I actually meant that you two had become good friends but now that you mention it… What do you think Antonio?"

Antonio nodded slowly. "I can see that actually… You two would look cute together."

Gilbert glared at Antonio. "Shut up. Don't even say that."

"Well he looks a lot like Matthew huh? I swear he's Matthew's doppelganger." Said Francis.

Gilbert shrugged. "Maybe you're right. That would explain a hell of a lot." He picked up his drink and sipped it. They were being stupid. He couldn't even think about being with another person after what had happened with Matthew. It was just too soon. Well that's how he felt anyway.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Well… Please review.


	13. A locket and a photo

**Shinigami-cat: **First of all... THANK GOD I CAN GET BACK ON THIS YAHOOOOO! WOOOOOOOOOO YEAH! SUCK ON THAT BITCHES! Please excuse any badly translated German. If there is blame Google translate… I OWN NOTHING!

**A locket and a photo**

Gilbert was sitting in the lounge room holding his huge stuffed chick. Every now and then he would look over at Ludwig who was sitting in their Mutter's lap. She was reading him a story. Gilbert pouted and sighed. '_I don't get it._' He thought. '_Why don't I look like her at all? I mean West has her eyes and Vater's hair. But what about me? Everyone says I smile like him and we have the same hair style but… Why don't I look like her?_'

"Gilbert." Called his mutter. "Why don't you come here and listen to the story with your brother?" Gilbert nodded and quickly walked over to her. She picked him up and put him on her lap next to Ludwig and started another story.

Gilbert sighed and leaned against his stuffed toy. His mutter was a nice woman, really kind and caring towards him and his brother like all Mutter's should be. He really liked her soft brown hair and shiny blue eyes. Her perfume was nice too. Peach sent he thought. If it wasn't peach it was something similar, like apricot.

"… So Hansel and Gretel wandered around the forest…"

Gilbert sighed. "Where's Vater?"

"He's in his office honey." She said sweetly. Gilbert wriggled out of her grip and jumped onto the floor. "Don't forget Gilbird dear." She said as she handed Gilbert his toy.

Gilbert smiled and quickly ran off to his Vater's office. He opened the door and walked inside. His Vater was sitting at his desk looking over some papers. His short blond hair sat messily on his head in a style much like Gilbert's and his green eyes looked tired. "Vater…" Said Gilbert.

His Vater looked up from his papers, he smiled at his son and waved him over. "Gilbert my son come here." Gilbert walked over to his Vater and climbed up onto his lap. "Now what might you want?"

Gilbert fidgeted and looked up at him with large innocent eyes. "Why don't I look like Mutter?" He asked.

His Vater froze for a second and sighed. "I guess I should tell you now…"

"Tell me what Vater?" Asked Gilbert.

His Vater thought for a second. "Before I say anything you must know that your Mutter and I love you very much, and we would never do anything to hurt you or your brother. Do you understand?"

Gilbert nodded. "I know that."

His Vater nodded. "Good." He opened up a drawer and pulled out a locket. He opened it and gave it to Gilbert. "Do you know who these people are?"

Gilbert looked at the picture and frowned. It was a picture of his Vater when he was younger with a woman he didn't recognise. "Well that's you Vater but… who is this woman?"

His Vater smiled half-heartedly. "That is the woman who gave birth to you."

Gilbert's eyes went wide. "My Mutter? She's my real Mutter? What happened to her? Where is she? Why aren't you two living together? Who is that woman down there pretending to be my Mutter?"

His Vater sighed. "Gilbert… When you were still inside your Mutter there were… complications. A plane crash to be exact. The doctors gave her a choice. She could either abort the pregnancy or die giving birth. I knew she would never even consider giving you up to live. So she gave birth to you and died. She named you after her brother, your uncle. Everyone called him Fritz but his middle name was Gilbert."

Gilbert's eyes were as large as dinner plates. "But who is that woman with West?"

His Vater patted Gilbert's head. "That woman is Ludwig's Mutter. Even though she didn't give birth to you she is still your Mutter and I want you to keep treating her as such."

Gilbert frowned and looked down at his lap. "Can I keep the locket? I want to have a photo of my Mutter."

"Of course Gilbert." He said. He put Gilbert back down on the ground. "Now go back to your brother and Mutter. I still have work to do."

Gilbert nodded and quickly walked out of the office and into his room. He jumped onto his bed and opened the locket and looked at the picture of his Mutter; long silvery white hair, light red almost pink eyes, soft cream coloured skin, she was wearing a Prussian blue dress and a pretty dark blue bracelet. In his own opinion he thought she look much prettier than his current Mutter. He sighed sadly. '_Mutter… Why did you do it? Why was my life more important than yours? I wish I knew you…_'

He hated how he would never know anything about her but he was happy that he finally understood why he looked nothing like her. He wasn't even related to her. He closed the locket and put it under his pillow and sighed. Things just weren't fair. He wanted his real Mutter. Not that other woman.

He was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts by a pair of blazing blue eyes. "Why did you run off Gil?" His brother asked.

Gilbert smiled at his brother and moved over so he could get on the bed with him, which he did. "Nothing much West. Just been wondering stuff…"

"What kind of stuff?" Asked Ludwig.

"Just wondering why I don't look like Mutter. I mean you have her eyes and Vater's hair but what do I have? I have nothing."

"Your hair is the same style as Vater's." Said Ludwig. "And you like cute things just like Mutter does."

Gilbert looked down at Gilbird and chuckled. "Yeah… I guess. But I don't look like her physically I mean. I just feel like I don't belong here."

Ludwig sighed and hugged Gilbert. "You do belong here Gilbert. You're my brother. If I belong here so do you."

Gilbert smiled and hugged Ludwig back. '_He's so cute! Besides he's right I guess. We don't have the same Mutter but we have the same Vater and that's good enough for me._'

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Gilbert opened his eyes and groaned. "That dream again…" He muttered. He sat up and looked at the clock. "What the hell? Six again? I hate my life." He flopped back down onto the mattress and sighed. He wasn't a morning person and he just wanted to sleep but he couldn't.

He rolled onto his stomach and opened up a drawer. He pulled out a locket and a small book. He turned on his bed side light and cracked open the book. The book contained all the things he found out about his Mutter and even had some black and white photos he was able to find.

His Mutter was born in East Germany. One of her relatives was a commanding officer of the Teutonic knights, so she had proudly boasted that she wasn't German, she was in fact Prussian and proud of it. She had a large bird avery filled with every kind of bird imaginable because his real grandfather was a biologist who specialized in birds. She was really out there and crazy; going rock climbing whenever possible, exploring caves and she apparently got stuck down a well once because she saw something shiny and leaned forward too far.

That always made him smile, because it was apparently how she and his Vater met. She fell down the well and he helped her out. After which she proclaimed that he was the most awesome person ever and stuck to him like glue.

He chuckled at that. His Mutter was awesome much like him. Which was awesome. He picked up the locket and opened it. He had long ago gotten rid of the original picture and replaced it with one of just his mother without his Vater. She looked so happy. She was sitting in a chair and rubbing her stomach happily. The bump that was him was just starting to show. A smile tugged at his lips. It was the only picture he had of him and his Mutter.

"Mutter…" He whispered. "It's been a while since we've talked huh? I've stopped cutting. I knew you wouldn't want me to keep hurting myself after what happened. But things are getting better. I'm working for a guy called Canada now. I know weird name huh? But he's pretty awesome." He quickly looked around his room and back to the photo. "Hey Mutter… I'm going to tell you a secret. Canada is a wizard. He can use magic but he calls it science. He looks a lot like Matthew but he has a tattoo on his chest." He sighed and closed the locket. "I'll talk to you later Mutter. Even though I never knew you, I still miss you."

He put the locket and the book back in the drawer and rubbed his eyes. '_I want to sleep… But no… Once I'm awake I can't get back to sleep…_'

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

"Ve, ve, ve, ve, ve."

"SHUT UP YOU IDIOT!" Snapped Lovino. "I CAN'T THINK WITH YOU SAYING VE OVER AND OVER AGAIN LIKE A BROKEN RECORD!"

Feliciano yelled and shifted closer to Ludwig. "Lovi!" He whined. "Don't yell at me!"

It was just another typical lunch complete with Lovino yelling at his brother Feliciano, who would press himself against Ludwig to save him, Ludwig would try to suppress a blush, Antonio would try to hand feed Lovino, Francis would grope Antonio's ass while he was distracted and Gilbert would chuckle and make a comment every now and then. A typical, normal lunch.

Antonio spat out some of the cafeteria pizza and pulled a face. "Tastes like rubber and salt. Can I share your pizza Lovi?"

"Make your own damn pizza tomato bastard!" Hissed Lovino.

"But your pizza tastes so good Lovi." Whined Antonio. "Just a bite please!"

"NO! EAT YOUR TOMATO!"

Antonio held a tomato up to Lovino's face. "I'll trade you a tomato for a bite please!"

Lovino contemplated this for a second and sighed. "Fine… But only one bite!" Antonio grinned at took a bite of Lovino's pizza.

Feliciano giggled and twirled some pasta around his fork. "Ve, do you want some Ludwig?"

Ludwig blushed. "I um… No thanks Feli."

"I'll have Feliciano's '_pasta_' if he doesn't want it." Said Francis with a perverted smirk. "I haven't had Italian before and I'm sure Feli's '_pasta_' tastes really good."

Lovino threw the tomato Antonio gave him right at Francis's face knocking him right off his seat. "Wine bastard! Fratello! Eat your own pasta you noodle headed idiot." Feliciano shrugged and happily ate his pasta.

Gilbert chuckled and helped Francis to his feet. "You really shouldn't have said that. You know the only person who can eat Feli's '_pasta_' is Ludwig."

Francis chuckled and wiped some of the tomato off his face. "Yeah, but there's no harm in asking right?"

"Unless the mafia tries to kill you." Said Gilbert. "So yeah there is harm in asking dumbass."

"Isn't that right Gilbert." Said Antonio.

"Pardon?" Asked Gilbert. "The awesome me was too busy talking to the less awesome Francis to hear you."

Antonio chuckled. "I was just telling Lovi and Feli about that axe in shop Maple and birds. It was really pretty huh?"

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "Yeah I guess… That is if you can call an axe cute that is… But he has a heck of a lot more stuff stowed away in the back rooms."

"Ve, like what?" Asked Feliciano curiously.

Gilbert shrugged. "Gems, stones, vases, bottles, carpets, bits and bobs, some dolls and some other stuff too."

Feliciano sighed and rested his head in his hands. "It must be fun working there. Looking at all the different things and seeing all the people come and go."

"It's not that fun." Said Gilbert. "I mean a few days ago a bunch of religious wackos abducted me and my boss because they thought I was a demon and he was a witch. Then the next day when I get home West is all pissy that I didn't call."

Feliciano's eyes went wide. "You were abducted?"

"His phone wasn't charged." Said Ludwig. "Don't believe everything he says."

Gilbert pouted. "But they could have killed me West! Stabbed me! Skinned me alive! Burn me at the stake then burn me some more!"

"Drama queen albino bastard." Spat Lovino. "You're going to give him nightmares! Who do you think he wakes up?"

Gilbert shrugged. "Ludwig?"

"WHAT? THE FUCK DID YOU SAY?" Cried Lovino.

Gilbert smirked. "Well he calls West whenever he's had a nightmare. I know because he keep hearing the Mario theme song every few weeks. By the way, best caller ID ever. But my dreams might start to become Mario related."

Antonio chuckled. "For some reason I'm imagining Lovi as Mario and Feli as Luigi."

"Does that make you Princess Peach?" Asked Gilbert with a smirk.

Antonio shrugged. "Maybe. I don't mind being Peach if Lovi is my Mario!"

Lovino blushed and punched Antonio in the stomach. "SHUT UP!"

"Ow! Lovi, if you want to be Princess Peach you could have just said." Whined Antonio. Lovino's face went a dangerous shade of red and his top lip began to twitch.

Feliciano jumped up and started running. "VE! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" It didn't take a genius to figure out Lovino was going to explode and let all hell break loose. So everyone scattered… except of one dim witted Spaniard.

As Gilbert ran for his life he heard a bone shattering snap and yelp from a now bloodied Spaniard. "MY NOSE!" Just another typical lunch time.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Please review?


	14. Love potions

**Shinigami-cat: **Well… I OWN NOTHING!

**Love potions**

Gilbert hummed to himself as he pulled several dusty bird cages out of a box. Many of them were broken and rusted but Canada wanted to see if any of them were sellable. So far none of them were salvageable. He would have to throw them out. Kuma walked into the room and sat down in front of him in cute polar bear form and tilted his head. Before he could open his mouth Gilbert glared at him. "My name is Gilbert."

Kuma shrugged and curled up on the floor asleep. Gilbert smirked and patted the little bear. Even if he was annoying and couldn't remember his name at least he was cute.

Soon he was done and he walked back to the kitchen with Kuma in his arms. He put Kuma on the table and looked over to the front of the shop where Canada was standing at the cash register. He was about to go and ask him what else he had to do when someone walked in. He could hear the happiness in Canada's voice as he greeted her. "Why hello there young miss." He said.

"Um yeah… I've heard that you don't just sell normal things here." The voice sounded familiar to Gilbert's ears but he couldn't quite pick it. He quickly walked over to the door way and gasped. Elizaveta was standing in the shop looking about as nervous as a cow in a butchers shop.

'_What the hell is she doing here?_'

Canada smiled at her and shrugged. "Depends. What have you heard?"

Elizaveta shifted nervously. "You'll just think I'm stupid for saying this but a few weeks ago this guy I know bought some tarot cards from you and they actually work."

Canada nodded. "Oh yeah I remember him. He was Romanian right?"

Elizaveta nodded. "Yeah and I just thought that maybe… No forget it I'll just go." She turned to leave but Canada called out to her.

"Hey it's okay! You wouldn't believe the stuff some people ask me to order for them. It's ridiculous. I've heard it all. What you have to say won't be that weird."

Elizaveta paused for a second and sighed. Her face was bright red with embarrassment. Gilbert had never seen her look like that before. "I um… I want to know… Iwantalovepotionplease!"

Gilbert's eyes went wide. '_A love potion?_'

"A love potion? Mind if I ask who you would use it on?" Asked Canada.

Elizaveta shuffled nervously. "Um… There's this guy at school that I really like and I… I don't think he likes me. He just doesn't seem like the kind of guy that would want to be with a girl like me." Elizaveta started to fidget with the hem of her shirt. "I'm too much of a tomboy for him. He seems like the kind of guy that would go for a princess. I'm nothing like that. I'm more like a… I don't even know."

Canada smiled and nodded. "Well young miss you've come to the right place. I have just the thing for you… Hey Kuma! Go get that box for me would you?"

Suddenly Kuma walked past Gilbert back in human form carrying a long rectangular wooden box. He gave it to Canada and walked off back to the kitchen. Gilbert glanced at him for a second then back to the front of the shop, staying out of sight.

Canada opened up the case and picked up a small blue bottle. "This is a love potion." He said. "It's odourless, tasteless and colourless."

Elizaveta eyed the bottle suspiciously. "What does it do? Do I drink it?"

Canada chuckled. "No young miss. As you see there is a blank label on it. You have to write the name of the person you love on it and make sure they drink it. The potion works best at around noon to one. And you only have twenty four hours to give it to them once their name is written on it."

Elizaveta nodded and took the potion from his hands. "Really? Thanks so much!"

"But it has a used by date." Said Canada warningly. "There is nothing in in this world that is a perfect love potion. After a month the potion will wear off and he won't be in love with you anymore."

"Then what's the point?" Asked Elizaveta.

"But there is another way." Said Canada slyly. "If you happen to make this boy fall in love with you for real, after a month you will still be together. But that's all up to you." Canada took the bottle out of Elizaveta's hands and picked up a pen. "So what's the lucky guy's name?"

Elizaveta blushed and looked down. "Roderich Edelstein."

Canada smiled and quickly wrote the name down on the bottle and gave it to Elizaveta. "So… Since this was your first time here… I'll give you a seventy per cent discount. Five dollars please." Elizaveta quickly payed Canada and ran off with a smile on her face. When she was gone Gilbert walked over to Canada.

"If you were just screwing with her I'll personally hit you with a frying pan of doom." He growled.

Canada pouted and crossed his arms. "I wasn't screwing with her. She seems like a nice girl and she deserves happiness. Everyone does."

Gilbert shrugged. "Yeah… But she's a good friend of mine so if you make her upset you're going to get a face full of frying pan."

Canada smiled. "I get it. You really are good to your friends. I'm surprised you don't have a girlfriend, I mean boyfriend."

A weight seemed to tug at Gilbert's heart. "When you lose someone you really love it takes time to heal."

Canada gave Gilbert a curious look but didn't push it. "So… were any of the bird cages salvageable?" 

"My advice, sell them for scrap metal." Deadpanned Gilbert.

Canada sighed sadly. "Really? All of them? I thought I packed them carefully this time…"

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "Were they special or something?"

Canada shrugged. "They were special, now they are scrap metal. Nothing much else now." He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "But who cares really? They were just cages. A means of confinement. Something to trap another creature… I'm going overboard here."

"Just a little." Said Gilbert. He sighed. "I feel bad for Liz… Roderich has a stick shoved so far up his ass I'm surprised he can even walk. He's a jerk too. When that love potion wears off Liz is going to be heart broken."

Canada chuckled. "Oh have some faith Gilbert. Love works in mysterious ways… Is Kuma in the kitchen? If so can you wake him up for me?" Gilbert shrugged and walked back into the kitchen. As soon as he was in there someone else walked into the shop. Canada's cheerful voice floated around the shop. "Hello young man how may I help you today?"

"Um… yes I've heard rumours about some of the things you sell."

Gilbert almost gave himself whiplash he turned his head around so fast. He quickly walked over to the doorway and his jaw dropped. Roderich was there. '_What the hell is he doing here?_'

Canada smiled. "If you are looking for a love potion for a certain young lady I would have to say yes."

Roderich blushed and looked away. "I um… It's not that exactly…"

Canada chuckled. "Oh come now young man. I can see that look in your eyes. The one that screams longing and burning passion for another. Tell me about her."

Roderich blushed but reluctantly told him anyway. "This girl at school… She's amazing, beautiful and so out there. She's not like any other girl I've ever met in my life. She's as wild and as untameable as the sea. But I know she would never go for someone like me. I'm boring and so undeserving of her… But I can't help that I love her with all my heart."

Canada smiled sadly at him. "How tragically poetic. I have just the thing." He opened the box and this time pulled out a pink bottle. "You see there is a blank label on it. You have to write the name of the person you love on it and make sure they drink it. The potion works best at around noon to one. And you only have twenty four hours to give it to them once their name is written on it."

Roderich eyed the bottle. "You are an odd person."

Canada shrugged. "I've been called worse. Now this has a used by date. There is nothing in in this world that is a perfect love potion. After a month the potion will wear off and he won't be in love with you anymore. But if you happen to make this girl fall in love with you for real, after a month you will still be together. But that's all up to you." He grabbed a pen and smiled at Roderich. "So what is this girl's name?"

"Elizaveta Héderváry." Said Roderich.

Canada smiled and quickly wrote the name down on the bottle and gave it to Roderich. "So… Since this was your first time here… I'll give you a seventy per cent discount. Five dollars please. Good luck." Roderich quickly payed Canada and quickly exited the shop. When he was gone Canada sighed. "Now I am ten dollars richer. Mwahahaha!"

"Okay what the hell just happened?" Asked Gilbert. "They just both happened to come here today and you just happened to give them some magical potion that makes them fall in love?"

Canada chuckled. "Don't worry Gilbert. They just payed for the bottle and the ink used to write those names down."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "Say what?"

"The bottles are filled with water." Said Canada with a wink. "Plain, ordinary tap water."

Gilbert shook his head. "You conned them both?"

"I didn't con them." Said Canada. "Those two were made for each other."

"And how do you know that?" Asked Gilbert. "When did you become the expert on love?"

Canada chuckled. "My Papa specializes in love potions and anything to do with love. I can tell when two people are meant to be together as easily as it is to breath."

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Right… You can't just look at someone and know who their true love is."

Canada shrugged. "I can. Remember I'm magic."

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah I know. But just because you're magic doesn't mean you know everything."

"I know that." Said Canada with a sad sigh. "I really wish I knew where that last stone was. Then I could fix everything."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Canada shook his head. "It's not that important… But if you must know I was kind of exiled from my home because of several events that happened to centre around me. So yeah… I can't really go back until I've got the stones back."

Gilbert tilted his head in confusion. "So you lost the stones in the first place?"

Canada sighed and nodded. "Yeah… When I first got here I kind of tripped and the box flew open and the stones flew off in every direction. They just scattered and I can't go home without them."

Gilbert shrugged. "Yeah okay. You must have fucked up really bad."

Canada chuckled. "You think? Those stones are so powerful. In the wrong hands well… imagine a cross between WWI, WWII, the Cold War, the Vietnam War and any other war you can think off all smashed together."

Gilbert flinched. "Ouch."

"Yeah…" He sighed and looked over at Gilbert. "So… How was school?"

Gilbert remembered lunch and chuckled. "Remember Antonio? The tan Spanish guy I was with at the café? Well his boyfriend broke his nose."

Canada chuckled. "Even here…" He muttered.

"What was that?" Asked Gilbert.

"Oh nothing." Said Canada. "Your friends just remind me of some people I know. This guy has such a bad temper, swearing and carrying on like there is no tomorrow."

Gilbert chuckled. "Yeah that sounds a lot like Lovino."

Canada chuckled and sighed. "Well… I'm going to go and fix up that engine my brother sent me." He took off his hoodie to revile he was wearing a dark green tank top. It hung loosely on his body revealing his lean, yet strong arms. He brushed past Gilbert and walked down the hall with his hands in his pockets.

Gilbert couldn't help but stare at the Canadian as he walked away. The way the muscles in his shoulders moved as he walked, the slight curve in his back, his cute tight ass… Gilbert slapped himself in the face. He so did not just think that Canada looked cute.

Gilbert sighed and looked away. '_He's just my boss… I don't love him. Hell if anything I lust after him because he looks like Matthew… Birdie… Damn it I don't like Canada that way! He's just my boss! Nothing more, nothing less! That's all! I don't like him at all! Not in that way anyway! I just-_'

"MAPLE!"

Gilbert suddenly snapped out of his thoughts and quickly ran down the hall and flung open the door where Canada was. "What happened? Oh… You want a towel?"

Canada was covered in oil and grease and giving the engine he was trying to fix the death stare. "Stupid thing." He hissed. "Too much pressure built up and it all blew up in my face, literally." He took off his tank top and wiped the oil and grease of his face. Giving Gilbert a nice view of his chest. "Why does this always happen to me?"

Gilbert blushed and looked away. "Unlucky I guess… There's some oil on your chest."

"Eh?" Canada looked down at his chest and shrugged. "It's just a bit of oil. It's not so bad. Better than the time my brother figured out how to make goo out of cornflour and water. That stuff stuck to everything and took forever to get out hair."

Gilbert smirked. "Yeah. I did something like that to West once. He's still hasn't forgiven me for destroying one of his shirts." He looked back at Canada and watched him giggle. There was a smear of grease across Canada's left cheek. "You missed a bit."

"Where?" Asked Canada as he held his shirt up to his face.

"Left cheek."

Canada rubbed his left cheek smearing more grease across it. "Did I get it?"

Gilbert rolled his eyes and took the tank top out of Canada's hands. "Let me do it." He grabbed Canada's chin and held his face in place as he wiped the grease from it. After a few seconds Canada's face was all cleared up and he let him go. "There. All done. I feel like I'm taking care of West all over again."

Canada chuckled and put his grime covered tank top back on. "Yeah. I feel like a kid when people do that to me."

Gilbert sighed. '_Yeah… I don't love him. I don't lust after him. He just seems more like a brother really… Yeah… that's just it. He's more like a brother… Maybe a cousin._' A small smiled crept across his face but he could feel a weight in his chest. It was heavy and seemed to twist at his heart slightly. He wasn't sure what it was but he sure as hell didn't like it, but he couldn't say he hated it. '_Love works in mysterious ways huh?_'

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: ***falls over and dies* Gah! I need to work on my assignments! Please review!


	15. Conflicting emotions

**Shinigami-cat: **So… Be warned there are lemons and other citrus fruits up ahead. You have been warned… I OWN NOTHING!

**Conflicting emotions**

Trapped in those violet eyes, like a deer in the head lights. Those soft velvet lips, dripping with honey and hiding a deadly poison. Strong hands yet they were gentle. His breath hitched in his throat as those lips assaulted his neck, those hands caressed his cool sides and those eyes bore into his. Jolts of electricity shot up his spine and he shuddered.

Love and the art of making love, one of the most sinful and loving acts that a human can commit. The feeling of being one with the person you love more than anything in the world, never wanting to leave their embrace for fear that they'll disappear and slip through your fingers.

All of these emotions were familiar to Gilbert in one way or another. To hold and to be held in his lover's arms were some of the sweetest moments in life. To him it wasn't about the act itself, but the trust that the partner would put in the other. Without trust this act would feel hollow to him.

The aftermath was always important too. Holding each other close and falling asleep in each other's arms without shame or guilt. Whispering your lovers name right before sleep completely took you.

Gilbert yawned and held his lover close, sleep taking its toll. "Good night Canada…"

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Gilbert almost screamed as his eyes snapped open and he sat up in his bed. He was covered in a cold sweat and his heart was racing painfully in his chest. His dream seemed to be burned into his memory. He tried to swallow but his throat was dry and sticky like it was covered in glue or hot wax.

A shiver ran down his spine. "Canada…" He whispered with wide eyes. "Canada… Holy shit no… No… Oh hell no… No, no, no, no, no…" He felt sick. He slapped himself in the face to make sure he was awake and not sleeping. Once he established that he was indeed awake he swung his legs over the side of his bed and stood up. He could feel something warm and sticky running down his inner thighs. He felt his stomach turn again. He quickly grabbed a pair of jeans and a long sleeved shirt and ran to the bathroom.

He locked the door and quickly turned on the shower, ice cold. He pulled off his pyjama pants and threw thing into the washing basket. It hit the bottom with a disgusting squelch that made his stomach turn. He pulled off the bandages on his arms and frowned. They were like some bizarre crisscross pattern across his skin, some of them had faded to form ghostly light purple lines while others still had scabs that hadn't quite healed yet.

He traced his fingers along the cuts and bit his lip. It was tempting… really tempting. He dug his nails under a scab and ripped it off. It stung like a paper cut but it made him feel a little better. He shook his head and quickly jumped into the shower. The cold water washing over his body.

'_Water… A symbol of purity. It washes away all faults and things impure… Shit I really need to stop hanging around Francis when he starts getting all poetic._' He shook his head and sighed. He felt gross, disgusted in himself. '_I… How the hell could I even think that? That's just so wrong… So, so wrong…_'

He looked down at his arms and was surprised to see that he was bleeding again. He had been digging at them while he was thinking. Maybe it was just a bad habit now, like people who tap their foot or rock in their chair. But there was something very different about his picking now. There was little to no pain. That frustrated him the most.

He quickly got out of the shower and grabbed a razor out of one of the drawers there and sat down in the shower, his back facing the spray. He pressed it against his arm and sighed sadly. "I had a good run."

He pressed the blade into his arm and slowly dug into the flesh. He flinched at the pain that shot up his arm like liquid fire but let a small smile tug at his lips. This was sick, so wrong, terrible, almost monstrous to self-harm but in his mind he would rather be a monster than let Matthew fade away in his memory to be replaced by someone who would never be the same.

Soon the bath water had turned a rusty red colour as it washed away the blood from his new cuts. When he was done he stuck the razor in a bar of soap so he wouldn't step on it by accident. He looked down at his arms and sighed. Red lines now crossed over his purple ones.

He chuckled darkly and hugged his knees. '_God I'm fucked up. But at least it doesn't hurt that much anymore. I'll never forget Matthew… my Birdie… I'd rather die than let that happen… Yeah next time I'll cut my throat… and I'll make sure I'm the only one in the house…_' He sighed and rested his head against his knees. '_Fuck… I'm going suicidal again._'

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Gilbert walked into Maple and Birds with his heart racing. He still felt guilty about his dream and the fact that he cut. He walked into the kitchen and looked around. Canada and Kuma were nowhere in sight. He was about to look around when Kuma ran down stairs (_in polar bear form of course_) completely drenched, covered in soap and blue paint.

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "Um… What the hell?"

Kuma glanced at Gilbert with wide fearful eyes. "Bath day. Hide me."

"Get back here Kuma." Snapped Canada as he walked down the stairs. His clothes were drenched and he had blue paint in his hair. "You need a bath. You can't walk around covered in blue paint all day!" He looked over at Gilbert and sighed. "Hi Gilbert… Mind helping me catch Kuma? He's going to get paint everywhere."

Gilbert sighed and shook his head. "What the hell? Why is he covered in paint? Why are you covered in paint? Why the hell did I even come in today?"

"Kuma knocked over some paint when I was getting him to move some boxes." Said Canada. "Now are you going to help me or what? I already locked the door to the hallway so yeah…"

Gilbert sighed and looked over at the slightly terrified looking polar bear and rolled his eyes. "Oh come on Kuma. You're a fucking polar bear! You eat fish. That stuff lives in the water!"

"I hate soap." Growled Kuma as he backed up against the wall.

Gilbert frowned at Kuma. "Suck it up princess… I never thought I'd say that to a polar bear."

Canada chuckled and slowly walked over to where Kuma was crouching, keeping his eyes locked on the bear. "Yeah…" He jumped and tried to grab Kuma but the bear quickly dodged and slid into the fridge.

Gilbert rolled his eyes and tried to catch Kuma but that bear was quick. He scrabbled around the kitchen. A chase quickly took place. Gilbert was not about to get beaten by a bear who was nowhere near as awesome as he was. Several times Canada tried to block off Kuma but the little bear was able to he wet fur to drift away from the Canadian and when Gilbert tried to block him Kuma knocked him over. Causing Gilbert to get pissed and Canada to chuckle.

Finally Gilbert had had enough of Kuma and just dived for him. "Got you!" Cried Gilbert triumphantly as he gripped the bear in his arms. "You mother fucking son of a bitch." Kuma growled and bit Gilbert's arm. Gilbert swore and dropped Kuma. "Fucking bear." He hissed as he grabbed his arm.

Canada sighed and grabbed his first aid kit. "I'll patch you up. Sit down."

Gilbert frowned and looked down at his feet. "I'm fine. It's nothing."

Canada frowned and grabbed Gilbert's arm pulling him over to the table. "You aren't fine Gilbert. You're bleeding." Gilbert sat down but held his arm close to his chest, refusing to meet Canada's gaze.

'_Shit if he looks at my arm he'll know I've started cutting again! Why the hell should I care what he thinks? Shit he might tell grandpa! OH FUCK I'M SCREWED!_' He leaned over himself and drew his legs up onto the chair like it gave him some form of invisibility from Canada but he knew it didn't.

Canada just sighed impatiently and tapped his foot. "Come on Gilbert. I don't have all day. I need to change into dry clothes you know."

"Then just do it." Hissed Gilbert. "Just change and I'll fix myself up."

"But I want to make sure Kuma didn't puncture anything major." Said Canada.

"Well he didn't." Growled Gilbert. "Fuck off."

"Why are you being so stubborn?"

"Why don't you mind your own business?"

"What are you hiding? Have you been cutting again?

"Why don't you fuck off?" Hissed Gilbert. He just wanted to change his bandages and go do something at the other end of the building far away from Canada.

"What did I do to deserve this kind of abuse?"

"I hate you." He knew it was a lie. He honestly wasn't sure how he felt about Canada anymore. Love of hate? Admire or disgust? Emotions strong and conflicting in his mind as powerful sea storms, threatening to throw him over the edge into a panic attack.

"Why do you hate me?"

Gilbert looked up at Canada. His normally happy and beautiful violet eyes seemed to be lost in confusion. The fact that he was also soaking wet and had some blue paint streaked through his hair just made him look like a very cute kicked puppy. It tore at Gilbert's heart. He groaned and looked away. "I just do. I know that's a fucking stupid reason but I do. I'll never like you. I tolerate you because you saved my life, but only just."

Canada sighed and opened the first aid kit pulling out some clean bandages. "I never asked you to not hate me. In fact if I remember correctly I told you on the first day you started to work here to hate me." He grabbed Gilbert's injured arm and pulled the sleeve up. He sighed at the set of newly wrapped bandages on Gilbert's arm. "Hate me but don't hate yourself."

"I can't help it." Muttered Gilbert. "I'm addicted to it now… I can't control my emotions. It's the only way I can deal with stress or when I'm overwhelmed with emotional baggage." He watched as Canada slowly peeled back the bandages being careful not to disturb any newly formed scabs.

"I know." Said Canada, his eyes locked on Gilbert's arm. "I'm not going to ask what triggered you to cut… But I'm always here if you need to talk to someone. Cutting is never the solution."

Gilbert chuckled darkly. "Yeah, it's the question and the answer is yes."

"Gilbert…" Sighed Canada sadly. "I appreciate that you're trying to make a joke out of this but now's not the time… Seriously how much blood have you lost because of this? I'm surprised you're still alive."

Gilbert chuckled. "I'm too awesome to die… I tried once and I failed. I was too awesome for heaven and way too awesome for hell so they sent me back. If I keep being as awesome as I am now I might just live forever."

Canada chuckled and began to dab Gilbert's bite mark with antiseptic. "Sure Gilbert. You just keep telling yourself that."

After that there was a silence, but it wasn't uncomfortable like one might think it would be. It was an easy silence but Gilbert's mind was still flooded troubling and conflicting thoughts. '_Why does he care so much? I yell at him and tell him to fuck off but he just helps me instead… Why is he doing this? Damn it I don't understand him at all. He's so confusing._'

Canada began to wrap up Gilbert's arm. "You should tell your family."

Gilbert shook his head. "No. They worried about me enough back then… They don't need to be worried about this. They'll blow everything out of proportion. Hell grandpa might even send me away to a nut house."

"That might not be a bad thing." Said Canada. "Don't take me wrong I don't think anyone should be in such a bad state of mind that they should end up there in the first place, but these things can't be helped you know? Sometimes people just need a bit of help."

"I don't need help." Growled Gilbert.

Canada sighed and put the first aid kit away. "Gilbert… You don't _want_ help. What you _want_ and what you _need_ are often completely different things. Deep down you know that what you're doing to yourself is wrong. Just listen to your heart. Like my Papa says '_When one follows their heart they can do no wrong_'. Honestly I think that's the one thing he's ever said to me that I can actually trust."

Gilbert nodded and looked down at his newly bandaged arm. "Are you going to tell my grandpa about me cutting?"

"It's not my secret to tell." Said Canada. He turned and walked back up the stairs. "I'm going to go change into something dry now. If you feel up to it go find something to dust and you." He pointed at Kuma and growled. "You are having a bath sometime this week. You won't know when and you won't know where but I will wash you." Kuma growled and hid under the table.

When Canada was gone Gilbert sighed and looked down at his arms again. He just felt numb and dead. Rotting from the inside. Ready to break at any second. He growled and stood up. He walked to the front of the shop and looked out the large window. The clouds were swirling and thundering high up in the heavens threatening to pour down at any second but seemed hesitant to let one drop fall. It seemed to reflect the state of his mind.

He sighed and ran his fingers over where Kuma bit him. "God damn son of a bitch."

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **HOLY SHIT I NEED TO START MY HISTORY ASSIGNMENT NOW! IF I FAIL ANY CLASSES MY LAPTOP GETS TAKEN AWAY DAMN IT! Anyway… please excuse my little rant… Please review.


	16. Found out

**Shinigami-cat: **Mwahahahahahahaha! I wrote this during my study period at school! Now please enjoy the awesomeness… that sounded a little boastful there… I OWN NOTHING!

**Found out**

His pencil rolled across the page, passing by equations and random drawings drawn in between the numbers are rules that he didn't care to learn. Maths sucked balls. Gilbert sighed and rested his head against the desk. The teacher wouldn't care if he failed maths. He was in the lowest maths class for a reason. At least he had Antonio with him, but he actually wanted to learn maths so he had no one to talk to or anything like that. He sighed again and hit his head against the table. His arms were tingling slightly.

'_Crap… I think they are infected. Fuck that sucks… I just wanted to relieve some stress and I get a fucking infection for my troubles… That bear bite probably didn't help much either._' He looked up at the clock and frowned. He still had half an hour stuck in that stuffy room. He needed to get out of there.

"Hey miss!" He called. "Can I have a bathroom pass?" Their teacher was the old grandmotherly type. In other words a real pushover. She happily gave him a pass and went back to teaching the class.

Gilbert smirked and quickly walked out of that room and down the hall. He loved the freedom of walking around the halls for no other reason than just for the hell of it. In fact that was how he first met Matthew. Matthew was always socially awkward and supposedly invisible to others around him most of the time. He didn't like going to class, not because he was a bad student or anything. It was more like he couldn't stand being in a large group of people for too long. A class room was tolerable but he really didn't like it.

Gilbert had happened to bump into him on his many trips up to the roof to just waste time. Matthew was sitting on the roof with a stuffed polar bear in his arms just looking out to the sea where their school over looked and they just clicked. After that they had become close friends then as the months went by something more.

Gilbert smiled at those happy memories and walked into the bathroom. He needed to check on his cuts. He didn't bother to lock the door or check if anyone else was in there because he knew everyone would be in class anyway. He just rolled up the sleeves on his arms and carefully unwrapped his left arm. Among the cuts was a distinctive bite mark. He frowned at it and poked it. A little bit of blood and greenish, white puss oozed out of a scab.

He sighed sadly. "I'll need to get more antibiotics at the pharmacy today. Kuma needs to brush his teeth." He grabbed a bit of paper towel and dampened it. When he was satisfied he started to clean the puss out of his cuts. It was a slow process but eventually he got most of the puss out that arm. He wrapped it back up and unwrapped his other arm. It was in pretty much the same situation as the other, minus the bite mark.

He started the process all over again, dampening some paper towel and cleaning out the puss. He rubbed a little too hard against a scab and tore it off causing blood to rapidly run down his arm. "Shit!" He hissed. "Did I cut a little too deep?" He pressed some dry paper towel against his wrist and sighed. He would have to wait a little for the flow to clot.

Suddenly the door swung open and in walked the last person Gilbert wanted to see. Alfred. The blond didn't even notice Gilbert for a few seconds, he was busy texting someone on his phone, but as soon as he glanced up and saw Gilbert he froze. His eyes trailing down to Gilbert's bandaged and bloodied arms.

Gilbert froze too. He felt like an animal that was about to be hit by a train. Who knows what Alfred would do now that he knew that he was a cutter? He might beat the shit out of him again or tell everyone. He didn't want that. He couldn't let Ludwig find out he was a cutter. Gilbert was the first to move; he took a few steps away from Alfred, holding his exposed arm close to his chest.

Alfred just looked at him and chuckled darkly. "You're a cutter?" His eyes were dark and dangerous. "Emo boy." He spat. Gilbert flinched at his words and started to wrap his arm back up. He wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible.

"Fuck off Alfred." He growled. "I'm not in the mood for you acting like an ass."

Alfred too a step forward and smirked. "Yeah you're in the mood to cut yourself emo." Gilbert rolled his eyes and tried to move around Alfred and out the door, but Alfred grabbed his forearm and twisted. Causing Gilbert to cry out in pain and fall to his knees. He was sure all the scabs on his arm were opened now. Alfred just laughed at him. "God you're pathetic. Everyone has problems, but you, you're so fucked up it's funny!"

Gilbert clenched his teeth and looked away from Alfred. It felt like someone was cutting deep into his arms, digging in all the way to the other side. His vision started to become blurred with tears. "Shut the fuck up Alfred." He hissed.

Alfred just laughed and kicked him in the ribs. "Pathetic. You're just a good actor huh? Pretending to be normal but look at you! You're nothing but a fucking pathetic wimp that cuts when things get too hard. What a loser."

Gilbert curled up on the floor and gasped in pain. It had been a long time since Alfred had kicked him there and he had hoped that it wouldn't happen again but hope is eternal. Closed his eyes and growled. "Feel better now Alfred? Beating up on someone who did nothing to you? Someone who obviously needs help?"

Alfred growled and grabbed Gilbert by the back of his shirt and slammed him face first against the wall. "You bastard. You killed Matthew. My brother."

Gilbert growled turned so he was facing Alfred. "You know I didn't kill him. How could I kill someone when I wasn't even in the same boat as him?"

Alfred glared at him with pure hate. "Don't act all innocent Gilbert. I know Matthew asked you to go with him but you said no. If you went with him he would still be alive. Because of you he's dead. I know. I've read the note."

Gilbert's eyes went wide. How did Alfred read the note? He had it hidden away in his bedside table. There was no way Alfred could have seen it. He looked away from Alfred. "Don't you think I know that? If I was there that day… Things would have been different. But I can't undo the past. What's done is done. Let it go already!"

Alfred glared at Gilbert and spat in his face before storming out. "You're a fucking hypocrite Gilbert. You are nowhere near getting over it. Those cuts on your arm are proof of that. Why don't you just do us all a favour and die already. No one would miss you."

When Alfred was done Gilbert let the tears that were building up in his eyes fall freely. He was a hypocrite. He would never get over Matthew's death. He would never get over his guilt. '_Alfred's right_' He thought. '_I should just die. Just die and leave everyone alone. That's the way it should be. I shouldn't be here anymore. I don't want to be here… I want to die._' He looked over at the mirror and bit his bottom lip. He knew what he should do.

He walked over to it and glared at his reflection. He slowly raised his hand to the reflect surface and chuckled darkly. His fingers danced over his and slowly curled his hand into a fist. He took a few deep shaky breaths and drew his hand back ready to strike, the voices swirling in his head laughing madly.

_Die!_

_Do it!_

_Kill yourself!_

_Chicken!_

_Loser!_

_Pathetic, moron, stupid!_

_Just die already!_

_Kill yourself already!_

_Die! Die! Die!_

_JUST DIE ALREADY! NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOU! JUST DIE! DIE! DIE!_

"SHUT UP!" Screamed Gilbert as he clutched his head. "JUST SHUT UP ALREADY! I'M DOING IT JUST SHUT UP!" During his screaming he fell to the floor and curled up into a ball, like a small child would when their parents would yell at each other. He pulled and tugged at his hair as he shuddered horribly. "I just want to die." He whispered. "I can't live anymore."

Suddenly two arms warped around him and pulled him into a protective hug. Gilbert screamed and tried to get out of their grip but the person held on tighter. "Hey calm down amigo." Cooed Antonio softly. "It's okay. You're safe. Nothing bad's going to happen."

Gilbert buried his face into Antonio's shirt and sobbed. "He saw them." He whispered. "He saw my cuts."

Antonio's eyes went wide and he rubbed small, comforting circles into Gilbert's back. "Who found out?"

"Alfred." Said Gilbert. "He saw me cleaning them and he… Shit he's going to tell everyone. He'll tell everyone I cut."

"I thought you stoped." Said Antonio.

Gilbert froze. "I had to."

Antonio sighed sadly. "Gilbert…"

"I had to!" Snapped Gilbert. "That and Canada's stupid bear… I mean dog bit me. Fucking thing infected them and… I was just cleaning them when he walked in on me…" He looked up at Antonio with worried eyes. "He's going to tell everyone isn't he? Everyone is going to know by lunch!"

Antonio sighed. "Hey it's okay Gilbert. Calm down. Who cares if you cut? Not me or Francis that's for sure. I admit I'm not happy that you started again and neither will Francis but I promise that we will help you. You won't have to face this alone. Besides Alfred is an asshole." Gilbert snickered at the comment. Antonio beamed. "Now that you're feeling better let's get back to class."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Gilbert was as nervous as hell. He had been hearing whispers from people when he moved to his next class, and now it was lunch time. If he could make it into the cafeteria without looking like a total fool he would consider himself awesome for all eternity. But if he couldn't… he was going to throw himself off the nearest cliff.

Francis patted him on the back. "You can do this Gilbert. It's not like anyone will care. They have no proof, except for Alfred's statement. Everyone knows he hates you so they won't take what he says to heart."

Gilbert smiled. He knew it was true. Alfred had spread several rumours about him before but none of them had stuck. Mainly because he couldn't make up a plausible lie. But this time, if he spun it right this one could stick. He took a deep breath and pushed open the cafeteria doors. The volume dramatically decreased to huddled whispers and sidewards glances. Alfred had definitely spread Gilbert's secret around.

Gilbert rolled his eyes and walked over to the table where he and his friends usually sat, ignoring the whispers. '_I just have to play it cool. It's not like anyone is going to take what he said seriously. He's just a loud mouthed American who no one cares about. He just-_' His train of thought was cut short when a water bottle flew through the air and hit him in the back of the head.

"EMO BOY!"

Gilbert growled, picked up the bottle and turned around. "WHO THE FUCK THREW THIS?" Everyone glanced around, some of them went back to their own conversations, some were looking at him and some were giggling.

Francis rolled his eyes and pushed Gilbert towards their table. "Come on Gilbert. They are just being immature."

Gilbert rolled his eyes and kept walking. Sadly the only way to get to their table was to pass the table Alfred sat at with his brainless friends. One of them shot their leg out and tripped Gilbert over causing him to face plant. The cafeteria burst into laughter. Gilbert growled and quickly jumped up. He could see Alfred laughing and he snapped. He lunged at the American and grabbed him by the front of the shirt. "WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR PROBLEM?"

Everyone in the cafeteria went silent. Even Alfred was quiet for a moment before he started to laugh. "Wow this is a change. Before you were some kind of emotional train wreck. Do you feel better after you've cut? Does it make you feel tough?"

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Cut? Are you spreading stupid rumours about me again? It's pathetic! People like you make me sick Alfred! You have nothing better to do than make fun of people that are different to you or are you just jealous that I'm awesome?"

Alfred chuckled darkly. "Yeah, so awesome that you cut yourself." He grabbed the sleeves of Gilbert's shirt and pulled them up, revealing his bandages; spots of blood were piercing through the white fabric. People began to whisper.

Gilbert froze and looked down at his exposed arms. Now everyone knew. His heart rate began to climb dramatically and he started to hyperventilate. He let go of Alfred and took a few steps back. He had to get out of there. He needed to. His eyes quickly darted around the room; all he could see were the blurred faces of people looking at him and talking. He couldn't take it anymore. He glanced over to the window and gulped. It was open and the cafeteria was on ground level so he would be fine. He ran over to the window and dived out it. He landed on the grass. He quickly jumped up and ran out the school gate.

He didn't care that everyone saw him act like a freak, he just needed to get the hell out of there. He didn't know where he was running exactly, but he didn't care. Eventually he stopped and had a look at his surroundings; sand, surf and rocks. He was at the beach. A small smile tugged at his lips and he walked over to the rocks, back to that flat rock shelf where he just felt so at peace.

He sat down and curled up into a ball. The clouds were starting to roll in and turn grey. A storm was coming. Tears filled his eyes and he screamed in frustration, his cry swallowed up by the sea. '_They all know! They all know my secret! What are they going to say? What are they going to do? Alfred you fucking dick! How could you do that? What's Ludwig going to say? What's grandpa going to say?_' He hated everything. He hated it all. He just wanted it to end now.

He looked out at the sea and frowned. He always did think that it would be nice to drown. It had to be less painful then cutting. Anything had to be less painful then cutting. He stood up and walked over to the edge and looked down; the waves crashed against the cliff face with a bone crushing force. He hesitated. If he jumped he would definitely be killed.

A small smile tugged at his lips. '_No more pain… No more torment… I can just let it go…_' He sighed happily and leaned forward, letting gravity do all the work and drag him down. But it wasn't his time just yet. The fates seemed to have other ideas. He abruptly stopped falling and just hung there in the air. Neither falling nor moving he just hung there.

Slowly he began to move away from the water, like gravity had done a switch and now up was down and down was up. When he had both feet back on the rock shelf he was more than a little confused. "What the hell just happened?"

"That makes it twice." Said Canada. Gilbert turned his head to see Canada leaning against a rock with a sad expression on his face. "Twice I've had to save your life."

Gilbert glared at him. "I didn't ask you to save me this time. I wanted to die! Why couldn't you just let me die? Why the fuck are you hear anyway?"

Canada sighed. "I was going for a walk and I saw you run by the shop. You seemed really distressed so I went outside and called out to you but you ran onto the beach. I was a little worried so I followed you. Good thing to. You would have died."

"I WANTED TO DIE!" Screamed Gilbert. His heart was beating frantically in his chest, like a bird fluttering around in its cage. "I don't want to live anymore… They all found out I cut. They all know… They all know that I cut!"

Canada sighed and walked over to the trembling teen and held him close. "Hey it's fine Gilbert. Who cares what those idiots think? Besides you're getting better right? You aren't cutting as often as you did right?" Gilbert said nothing, he just buried his face into Canada's shirt. Canada smiled softly and ran his fingers through the albino's hair. "Come on Gilbert, stiff upper lip and all that. Crying isn't awesome and neither is suicide. This isn't like you. This isn't like the awesome teen that has been working for me."

Gilbert closed his eyes. It was oddly comforting being held by the Canadian. '_I just want all this pain to end… Why do you have to sound like Matthew? Why do you have to act like him? Why do you have to look like him?_' He suddenly felt exhausted and let his body go limp.

"Whoa easy there!" Said Canada as he took on Gilbert's additional weight. "Are you okay?"

"I'm tired." Muttered Gilbert.

Canada smiled and patted Gilbert's back. "Okay. Get some sleep. You look like hell." Gilbert mumbled something and fell asleep. In Canada's arms. Today was too emotionally draining.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Please review?


	17. What is and what can never be

**Shinigami-cat: **Two chapters in two days! In other words… I've almost done my assignment… I OWN NOTHING!

**What is and what can never be**

Gilbert sat on the couch watching some random movie with Matthew. It was just another lazy afternoon with nothing to do really. They were just content with sitting together, Matthew on Gilbert's lap and Gilbert with his arms laced around Matthew's stomach.

"Hey Gilbert." Said Matthew. "Tomorrow I was going to go fishing… Do you want to come?"

"Fishing?" Asked Gilbert. "Why fishing?"

Matthew shrugged. "Well… You had fun the last time we went fishing…"

Gilbert chuckled. "That's because we did about ten minutes of fishing and half an hour of something much more fun."

Matthew blushed and looked down at his lap his face burning. "I um… Yeah well you see… I um…"

Gilbert chuckled and rested his chin on Matthew's shoulder. "You're so cute when you blush like that Birdie. So come on, why do you want to go fishing?"

"I just wanted to get away from it all you know." Sighed the Canadian. "I'm tired of Alfred breathing down my neck every second. I just want to be somewhere quiet for a few hours. I was thinking we borrow my dad's fishing boat and head out to sea for a few hours."

Gilbert cringed at the idea. He wasn't good with boats. He got violently sea sick and still be queasy for hours after woods back on land. "I'd rather not… Sea sickness and all."

Matthew sighed. "Yeah… I forgot about that… I really wanted to fish further out to sea though… Bigger fish and all that. I'm tired of trying to catch big fish near the shore line."

Gilbert could hear the disappointment in Matthew's voice and frowned. He hated making his Birdie sad. A sad Birdie was not pleasant thing. It was downright miserable really. He sighed and pulled Matthew closer. "Sorry about that. I can't help it."

"I know you can't." Said Matthew. "I'll just go some other time. It's no big deal."

"I'll make it up to you." Said Gilbert. "I promise I will."

Matthew smiled and leaned back to kiss Gilbert's cheek. "I know you will. You always do." Gilbert smiled and nuzzled Matthew's neck breathing in his soft scent. This was perfect, Matthew was perfect, his life was perfect.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Gilbert shifted slightly in his sleep, his eyelids heavy and refusing to move. He could smell something sweet and feel something soft and warm against his skin. He sighed contently and pulled the soft covers over his head. It felt nice. He slowly opened his eyes and was face to face with a soft blue blanket.

He smiled and pulled it down slightly. He was lying on a mattress in Canada's kitchen. Canada was giving Kuma a list and practically whispering out some instructions to him. Kuma nodded, grabbed the list, changed into human form and quickly ran out the door. When he was gone Canada sighed, grabbed some pancakes from the table and sat next to Gilbert, waiting for him to wake up.

Gilbert looked over Canada and sighed inwardly. '_Why are they the same? Same face, same voice, same taste in clothes, same everything… I can't help it… He's so much like him… Why does he care if I kill myself? Canada… Matthew… Damn it they are both the same._' He slowly reached out with one arm and touched Canada's thigh.

Canada jumped slightly and looked down at Gilbert, a slight blush dusted his face. "Oh you're awake. Are you feeling better?"

Gilbert shrugged and pulled himself up into a sitting position, his hand still on Canada's thigh. "I've been better. I've been worse." He leaned closer to Canada.

Canada blushed and leaned away slightly, his face going a brighter shade of red. "Oh… That's good I guess…" He moved Gilbert's hand away from his thigh and looked at the bandages. "Maybe you should get a better disinfectant. I had to change them for you."

Gilbert smiled and looked down at his bandages. They were new. '_That was nice… He's really kind, like Matthew… He might not be Matthew, but he's as close as I'll ever get._' At this point he didn't care if it was Matthew or Canada. He just needed to feel like he had a reason to stay alive. He wanted something to keep him there. He sighed and wrapped one arm and round Canada's waist and nuzzled his neck, breathing in his sweet scent.

Canada froze and the blush on his face darkened. "Gilbert? What are you doing?"

Gilbert chuckled and let his lips graze Canada's neck. "Calm down Birdie. I'm not going to hurt you."

Canada shivered. "You shouldn't do this."

"Why?" Whispered Gilbert. "Are you afraid?"

Canada gulped. "It's not that… It's just that this isn't what you want."

Gilbert kissed Canada's neck. "Of course it is. I want you." He gently pushed Canada to the ground and crawled on top of him. He smiled at the blush on Canada's face. "Don't worry."

Canada shook his head. "No. This is just wrong."

Gilbert stopped for a second and tilted his head in confusion. "Are you straight?"

"No."

"Then what's the big deal?" Asked Gilbert.

Canada blushed. "You're still in high school! I'm also your boss! You happen to be underage! And need I remind you, you just tried to kill yourself! You're unstable!"

"So?" Snapped Gilbert. "I don't care that you're my boss. I don't care that I'm still in high school! Hell if you want you can fire me and I'll work off my debt to you another way. And so what if I just tried to kill myself? You're the closest thing to Matthew as I'll ever get!" He crashed his lips against Canada's.

Canada's eyes went wide and he let out a muffled yelp. Gilbert smirked into the kiss and pressed himself flat against Canada, preventing him from moving. He could feel Canada squirm underneath him. He swept his tongue across Canada's bottom lip and forced his tongue into his mouth when he gasped. Canada tasted like maple syrup. Suddenly Canada grabbed Gilbert's arms and pushed him away.

"Stop it!" He cried, tears were starting to spring from the corners of his eyes. "What do you mean I'm the closest thing to Matthew as you'll ever get? Who is Matthew?"

Gilbert just looked at Canada with sad eyes. "Matthew… He drowned three years ago… His body was never found… My Birdie died because I didn't go with him… I loved him more than anything but he just disappeared three years ago." Gilbert's heart was now beating painfully in his chest. "I just wanted him back. Then you came along and you look and sound and act just like him. It's not fair! He's never coming back but I still want him! Please you look like him, just please let me love you!"

Canada looked at Gilbert with a look of pure shock on his face. "Gilbert… I'm sorry… I didn't know."

"DON'T BE SORRY!" Screamed Gilbert. His vision was becoming blurred with tears. "JUST LET ME LOVE YOU!"

Canada sighed sadly. "Gilbert… this isn't what you want. You're not thinking straight. You need to calm down and think about what you're saying."

"I HAVE!" Cried Gilbert in frustration. "I LOVE YOU! PLEASE! I'LL DO WHATEVER YOU WANT ME TO DO JUST PLEASE! Please… I love you… please…"

Canada looked up at Gilbert's blood red eyes and sighed. "You want me to use you?"

"I don't care." Whispered Gilbert. "I want to feel something other than pain… I want to feel needed… I want to feel loved… I need to feel like I matter."

Canada smiled sadly. "Gilbert… I'm sorry… I don't love you. I could never love you the way you want me to. I could never use you. You don't really love me though do you? You love Matthew. I can't replace him. I could never replace him."

"I don't care." Said Gilbert. "I don't care if this is a one sided love. I don't care if I'm always going to be searching for love with someone who isn't truly there… I want you now. I don't give a shit if I top or not I just need this now."

Canada sighed and slowly sat up, pushing Gilbert back. "No you don't. You're chasing after something that you can never have. I'm not Matthew. You just think you love me because I look like him." He leaned forward and whispered into his ear. "Don't make a mistake that you will regret for the rest of your life… Like I and so many others have made."

"It's not a mistake." Whispered Gilbert. "I love you."

Canada sighed. "Didn't I tell you to hate me? Why can't you follow orders? I can't love what I despise."

Gilbert's eyes went wide. "You hate me?"

Canada paused for a second. "… Yes. Yes I do. I'll never be able to love you Gilbert. Asking me to love you is the one thing I can't do… I think you should go home now. Consider your debt repaid." Canada got off the floor and walked to the back of the shop without another word. Leaving Gilbert sitting on the floor all alone and confused.

After what seemed like forever he slowly stood up and walked over to the front door. A storm was raging outside; thick sheets of rain thundered down from the heavens, lightening flashed and thunder rolled around like drums. Gilbert pulled up his hood and started to walk.

'_I'm such an idiot… They were never the same… They will never be the same… I'm such an idiot… I need to get away from here… far away…_' He walked back down to the beach, which was now abandoned by beach goers leaving it disserted. A quiet place just for him. He walked back to the flat rock shelf and sat down on; the sea was a blurred grey mess, the waves crashed against the rock platform high enough to spill large amounts of water onto the platform.

Gilbert sighed and remembered back to the hour before Matthew was missing. Gilbert had gone over to his house because he didn't think he would have gone just yet. But he was mistaken and Matthew's mother gave him a note that Matthew had left for him. He would forever remember those words; _I'm guessing you probably forgot I was going fishing didn't you? Hey it's no big deal. I'll be back by six at the latest. Don't bother calling I left my phone at home. It's not that I don't want to talk to anyone or anything! It's just that the point of doing this was to get away from it all. I'll see you later tonight. Maybe you could invest in some seas sickness tablets and we could get away from it all together sometime. Love Matthew._

Gilbert sighed and let his tears fall freely. "I'm sorry Matthew… Birdie… I'm sorry about it all…" He wiped away his tears and stood up. "Let's get away from it together." He walked over to the edge of the rock platform and sighed. Today would be the second time he would attempt suicide. Hopefully he would succeed this time. The voices in his head were louder than they had ever been before.

_Do it._

_Pathetic_

_Just do it. Hurry up and do it!_

_Do it!_

_Die!_

_Do it!_

_Kill yourself!_

_Chicken!_

_Loser!_

_Pathetic, moron, stupid!_

_Just die already!_

_Kill yourself already!_

_Die! Die! Die!_

_JUST DIE ALREADY! NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOU! JUST DIE! DIE! DIE!_

_Chicken! You're afraid! You can't do it!_

_Loser! Pathetic! Wimp!_

_Just die! Hurry up and die!_

_Do it!_

_Kill yourself!_

_No one cares if you die!_

_Do it!_

_Don't chicken out now!_

_You have nothing to live for!_

_What a loser!_

_He's so unawesome!_

_You never will have something to live for!_

_Just die!_

_DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! JUST DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE!_

He turned around so he was facing the land and spread out his arms like a bird. "Goodbye everyone. It was awesome knowing you all." He closed his eyes and fell backwards. This time there was no one to save him. No Canada to levitate him back to safety. He just fell and hit the water with a splash that was masked by the crash of the waves against the rocks.

Gilbert slowly let his breath leave his mouth in a steady stream of bubbles as he was dragged deeper and deeper into the water. '_The world won't stop spinning if I die… It didn't for Matthew so why should it for me? Let's leave this world together… I'm sorry it's taken me so long but now we can be together forever… I love you Matthew… Canada was right. No one can replace you._'

The freezing water started to make his skin go numb but he didn't care. He wanted to black out and let the sea take his corps out to sea where it belonged.

He slowly opened his eyes. He wasn't surprised that he had developed mild tunnel vision, in fact he was proud of it. It meant he was so close now. The pressure of the water started to compress around his chest forcing the last of the air out on his lungs. Sharp, stabbing pains started to burn through his chest as his body was starved of oxygen.

'_Goodbye Ludwig, Francis, Antonio, Grandpa and all the rest… We had some fun times huh? Now it's time for me to go… I have to meet Matthew in the next life._' He closed his eyes as he slipped out of consciousness and into that beautiful black abyss.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Sudden pressure on his chest and air being forced into his lungs made Gilbert cough and splutter, purging the salt water from his system. He looked up at the person who had saved him and burst into tears. Canada had pulled him onto the beach. "WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LET ME DIE?" He screamed at Canada. "WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LET ME DIE? I THOUGHT YOU HATED ME? WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LET ME KILL MYSE-" Gilbert sentence was cut off when Canada slapped him in the face and grabbed him by the front of his shirt.

"ARE YOU SO GOD DAMN SELFISH?" He shrieked. "DON'T GO AND KILL YOURSELF OVER SOMETHING I SAID! DO YOU THINK MATTHEW WOULD WANT THAT? DO YOU THINK HE WOULD WANT YOU TO KILL YOURSELF?" A rage that Gilbert had never seen in the Canadian's eyes burned into him. "HELL NO! HE WOULD HAVE WANTED YOU TO LIVE! WHY JUST THROW YOUR LIFE AWAY? YOU THINK YOU HAVE NOTHING TO LIVE FOR? WHY DON'T YOU LIVE FOR HIM? LIVE FOR MATTHEW! LET THAT BE YOUR PURPOSE IN LIFE! TO LIVE FOR THE ONE YOU LOVE!" By the end of his rant Canada was breathing heavily. "Don't go and kill yourself… That's so… so unawesome."

Gilbert just looked up at Canada. Tears were still slowly trickling down the sides of his face. "Matthew would have said the same thing…"

Canada sighed and held Gilbert close. "Oh Gilbert… What am I going to do with you?"

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **So… reviews?


	18. Water stone

**Shinigami-cat: **Well I'm sorry about all the shit that's happened lately to Gilbert… I OWN NOTHING!

**Water stone**

Once again Gilbert was in Canada's kitchen, but this time he had several towels thrown at him so he could dry off. Gilbert's didn't care. He just let the towels hang off him while Canada just sighed in frustration. "Why would you go and do that? Suicide is so dumb."

"Shut up." Hissed Gilbert. "You wouldn't understand."

Canada sighed and looked away from Gilbert. "Yes I would. Remember how I said I attempted suicide? I've attempted it about ten times and every time I've failed. I know what it's like to be in your state of mind and me telling you that I hate you probably didn't help much…"

"You think?" Growled Gilbert. "You're so fucking clueless."

"Well I wasn't going use you." Said Canada with a pout. "Besides I knew you didn't really love me anyway…"

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Shut up. I wish you'd just let me die the way I want. Who cares how I die. I'm going to die one day anyway."

"Just hold it off for as long as you can." Said Canada sadly. "If not for yourself but for those around you… Death is such a terrible thing… especially for someone so young."

"I don't give a shit." Hissed Gilbert. "I wanted to die… I wanted to be with Matthew… body lost at sea… Far away from it all… Just like he wanted… To get away from it all…"

Canada sighed sadly, got a water bottle out of the fridge and sat down at the table. "Do you still think you have nothing to live for?"

Gilbert shrugged. "I guess… I'm not going anywhere with my life at all… Hell I don't even know how I'm going to face anyone when I get home… Shit, they're probably looking for me."

Canada shrugged. "I guess… No point in checking your phone though. You probably fried it when you jumped."

Gilbert shrugged. "I guess…" A flash of lightening appeared at the window followed by a loud clap of thunder. "Stupid rain."

Canada nodded. "Yeah… Have some water." He slid his bottle of water over to Gilbert who caught in. As soon as Gilbert grabbed it the water started to thrash around like the sea during a storm. Both Canada and Gilbert looked down at it with astonishment. "Um… can I have that back for a second?"

Gilbert nodded and slowly let go of the bottle. "Yeah…" As soon as he let go the water in the bottle calmed back down. Canada picked up the bottle and frowned at it. He muttered some things under his breath. After a few seconds he slowly moved the bottle towards Gilbert. The water started to thrash around in the bottle. He moved it away and the water calmed. After a few more goes of this Canada frowned and put the bottle back on the table.

"Odd…" He muttered. "Very, very odd indeed… Tell me Gilbert where is Matthew buried or at least his coffin?"

Gilbert frowned. "Near that church where those nut jobs tried to kill us. Why?"

Canada's eyes went wide and his jaw dropped. "It all fits… every last thing… And it all started with the plane crash…"

Gilbert shifted slightly in his seat and moved away from Canada. "What crash?"

Canada grinned excitedly. "Back when your mother died. That plane crash. But why weren't you and your mother killed? Why didn't you die in that house fire? Why didn't those dogs maul you to death too? What's with that…? Hey Gilbert… You know how you said your step mum was mauled to death… That didn't happen to be near a villa near Venice would it?"

"How did you know?" Asked Gilbert.

Canada blushed slightly. "I um… had a look into it because it sounded suspicious…"

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Great… You don't sound like a stalker at all…"

Canada pouted, but brushed the statement off. "Anyway… your father died in a house fire in Germany, on a street in Darmstadt … Ludwigstraße was it?"

"Well yeah but what does that have to do with anything?" Growled Gilbert. He really hated that Canada poked his nose into his personal life.

"And your mother was in a plane crash that happened over the Swiss Alps, right?" Asked Canada. He was now pacing around the room, chewing on his thumb nail.

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Yeah so?"

"Did she ever wear any jewellery with a big blue stone on it or something?"

"From the photos I've see she used to wear a bracelet with blue stones on it." He muttered. He hardly saw the importance of a stupid bracelet.

Canada was basically radiating excitement. "Did any of the stones ever go missing?"

"Every now and then apparently." Said Gilbert. "They were really small so they just fell out." He didn't understand what was so important about it.

Canada started to walk faster and grin wildly. "Did they start to disappear when she got pregnant with you?"

Canada was starting to really freak him out now. "Yeah so?"

Canada's eyes went wide and his jaw dropped. "It all fits… Everything… Your mother and you were the only ones to survive the crash. Did you know that?"

Even Gilbert didn't know that. "No."

Canada snapped his fingers. "I bet when the house caught fire your father was the only one who wasn't anywhere near you or your step mum and your brother!"

"West had a nightmare that night and we shared the same room back in Germany so she came in to comfort him. That's when the fire started." Muttered Gilbert.

Canada grabbed a chair and pulled it up so he was sitting right next to Gilbert. "But you got out without any smoke inhalation or anything really drastic, not even something minor. Why might that be?"

"I don't know." Snapped Gilbert. "Personal space please!"

"Then there are the dogs!" Cried Canada. He seemed to have ignored Gilbert's personal space issue. "They attacked your step mum yet you weren't even harmed! Those dogs could have found you in a snap and gobbled you up! You were just a kid! You couldn't out run them even if your life depended on it, which it did! Why are you still alive?"

"I don't know!" Cried Gilbert. "Just fuck off and leave me some razor blades or some rat poison!"

Canada rolled his eyes. "I'll tell you why… Your mother and you survived because air is the child of water and fire. Mix fire with water and they can evaporate causing what to happen? Steam. And steam is a gas which is a form of air. You survived that house fire because water and fire are enemies but have a mutual respect for each other. You survived that dog attack in Italy because earth is also a child of water and fire. Lava. Liquid fire, when combined with water creates igneous rock, which is a type of earth! But Spirit can change the nature of these things, yet is unable to touch it directly touch any of the others because it is already in all of them!"

"What the hell are you on about?" Snapped Gilbert. "You aren't making any sense!" If Canada didn't start making sense he was going to end up punching him.

Canada sighed and looked down at the floor. "Gilbert… You mothers bracelet… the blue stones in it were the lapis lazuli… also known as the water stone. Somehow someone made it into a bracelet and somehow your mother got her hands on it and wore it while she was pregnant with you. When a woman is pregnant her body's number one job is to keep the baby alive. Most of their energy, food, blood, among other things are absorbed by the baby… Another way of seeing it is like this; a baby is like a parasite feeding off the mother grabbing everything it needs to survive. I bet around that time the stones on her bracelet were disappearing."

Gilbert frowned and looked over at Canada. "I don't understand what you're saying."

Canada looked up at Gilbert with sorrow in his eyes. "Gilbert… When you were still a growing inside your mother she started wearing the lapis lazuli on her wrist. It was slowly absorbed into her body. Bit by bit. But the stone didn't manifest its self inside her. How could it? Her body's number one job was to keep her unborn child alive. Gilbert… The lapis lazuli was absorbed by you. It is inside your body."

Gilbert's eyes went wide. "It can't be! It just can't be! You have no proof! Just a theory!" There was no way what Canada was saying was true. He wasn't a monster like that Plague. He couldn't manipulate people to do his bidding like the Plague. He was just a regular teen… a suicidal, self-harming teen.

Canada sighed and smiled half-heartedly. "Gilbert… When you're angry or sad or upset or overwhelmed with some sort of emotion doesn't water react somehow? Hasn't it ever rained when you were sad?"

"Lots of people get sad when it rains…" Muttered Gilbert. He really didn't like where Canada was going.

"No Gilbert." Said Canada. "It rains because you're sad. You don't even know it's happening. It can cause a ripple effect. You're pissed off here and the next thing you know there is a tsunami destroying some country's coast line, or a sea storm happens. Natural disasters that involve water happen all the time but the most disastrous ones happen when you are angry. Sea swells and ocean spray happen because you're different degrees of happy and sad. All of it is you!"

"This is insane." Said Gilbert. "I don't have the water stone inside me!"

"You know I'm telling the truth. Look at the water!" Said Canada as he moved the water bottle towards him. The water went ballistic. "I'm sorry Gilbert… But you do have the stone inside you."

Gilbert pushed the bottle away and shook his head. Panic was starting to freak out. "I can't. You said that these stones twist people and makes them evil. I'm not like that. I haven't killed anyone. I'm not manipulating water and making it kill people! Besides when did you lose those stones? You would have to be way older than you are now for my mother to even have that stone!"

"Time is irrelevant. The stones can travel through time when shaken up or put under sudden physical stress." Said Canada sadly. "The stones can lie dormant inside a host for years until it is active. It just so happens that you trying to kill yourself activated it. I need to get it out of you. Now."

Gilbert gulped. His heart was pounding in his chest. "Does that… Does that mean you're going to… to kill me?"

Canada bit his lip and looked away. "Gilbert…"

"Answer me." Said Gilbert. "Are you going to kill me?"

"Gilbert please don't-"

"Just make it quick and painless." Said Gilbert. It wasn't the way he wanted to go but he still wanted to die today.

Canada's eyes widened. "You still want to die?"

"Yes." Whispered Gilbert. "I have nothing left do I? And I just tried to kill myself so it just fits huh? I'm just going to end up dying one day anyway… and I'm going to end up killing people if you don't do it now anyway."

Canada sighed and ran his fingers through Gilbert's hair. "Gilbert… This is your life you're talking about. You can't just throw it away like it's worthless."

Gilbert looked away. "Human life is worthless Canada. It doesn't matter if someone dies. The world doesn't stop. People don't stop living. Things just keep moving on and on… I know that better than anyone. When Matthew disappeared the world didn't even pause. It just kept going. My life ending won't be any different."

Canada shook his head. "No Gilbert. When someone dies the world always stops. A small pocket of time surrounds all those who are dear to them and they are encased for a moment. When someone you love dies you always remember that time when the world stood still."

Gilbert chuckled. "Yeah… So what's going to happen now? Are you going to snap my neck and dig it out after?"

Canada cringed at the thought. "No. That's just horrible… But I think I have another way… I'll be back soon." He quickly ran out of the room and came back with a large book. He sat across from Gilbert and quickly flipped through it. Eventually he stopped on a page and gulped. His face went paper white. "Oh dear…"

Gilbert frowned and tilted his head. "What?"

Canada chuckled nervously and gulped. A dark blush covering his face. "Um you see… For this to work I have to um… touch your um… I need to touch your um…"

Gilbert's eyes went wide and he moved back in his chair. "You had your chance Canada. Piss off, you aren't touching me down there."

Canada's eyes went wide. "What? I meant your soul! What the hell were you thinking?"

Gilbert frowned. "My soul?"

Canada nodded. "Yeah… It's kind of hard to do… You see the soul and the stone are combined in one. It's like having bits of dirt mixed in with water. They go together but they don't fit perfectly. It needs to be purged from the system."

"Or what?" Asked Gilbert.

Canada sighed. "Or you turn into some kind of creature similar to a Plague but can control water and use it destructively."

Gilbert sighed. "Fine… What do I have to do?"

Canada looked at the book again and sighed. "Well… I need to paint a symbol on your chest and mutter some chant in Latin while I reach inside you and pull it out… oh and it needs to be performed inside a pentagram… and there is a side note that the person who is inside the pentagram should be strapped to a chair and biting a wooden spoon."

Gilbert just looked at Canada with wide eyes. "I'd rather you snap my neck. Sound a hell of a lot simpler."

"For the last time I'm not going to kill you!" Snapped Canada. He stood up and started to walk down the hall. "Besides the chances that you will survive this are about one in a million so…"

Gilbert sighed and followed him. "Fine… Just as long as there is a chance I'll die I'm all for it."

Canada grinned. "Excellent." After several minutes they were standing at the basement door and Canada quickly threw open the door and ran down the steps towards the closet in the middle of the room. Gilbert quickly followed him and leaned against the wall, waiting to see what Canada was going to do.

"So… does it lead to Narnia?" He asked.

Canada rolled his eyes. "Narnia is made up." He opened up the closet. "Red paint." Suddenly a tin of rad pain flew out of the closet and Canada caught it in his hands grinning. Gilbert just looked at him stunned. "Requirement closet." Said Canada. "Where else did you think I was getting all the stuff to sell in my shop? Okay now um… Black ink and two paint brushes." The items flew out and Canada placed them on the floor. "Wooden spoon." It also flew out. "Chair with leather strap restraints." A chair with leather strap restraints flew out of the closet and almost knocked Canada off his feet.

Gilbert looked down at the things that Canada now had and frowned. "So… What now?"

Canada smiled as he collected his items. "You'll see."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Once they had found a relatively empty room Canada quickly painted a pentagram on the ground and several markings around it according to the book. The chair had been set up in the middle of the pentagram. Canada had explained that the reason they had to have the pentagram there was so that if something went wrong it would be contained within it and not destroy half of the earth. An odd design was drawn on Gilbert's stomach and chest area with the ink and then he was strapped into the chair. He was really not amused.

"I have the strangest feeling I'm going to get raped. I don't know why…" He muttered.

Canada rolled his eyes. "Yeah… Because I seem like the kind of person that would do all this just to rape someone. Thanks so much."

"Well this just seems creepy." Snapped Gilbert. He looked down at his arms and pulled against the restraints. "A little tight don't you think?"

Canada looked over the book again and waved the wooden spoon at Gilbert. "If your hands aren't turning blue then they are too loose."

Gilbert frowned. "Yeah, yeah you made your point… So just hurry up and kill me already."

"I told you that you have a high chance of surviving this Gilbert." Said Canada as he rolled up his sleeves. "I have a high survival rate when it comes to this."

"How many times have you done it?" Asked Gilbert curiously.

"First time."

"If I could face palm I would."

Canada rolled his eyes and walked over to him. He put the spoon in his mouth and sighed. "Bite down on this okay? I'm going to start now." Canada held the book open with the incantation in one hand and ghosted his fingers over the markings he made on Gilbert's stomach with the other. He licked his lips and slowly started to chant in a very low voice, almost whispering.

After several repetitions of the chant the markings on Gilbert's body started to heat up and tingle. Gilbert looked down at himself and gulped; the markings were also changing from inky black to a dark blue. '_Oh shit! This is not good! This is not good!_'

Slowly Canada started to press his fingers against Gilbert's stomach, chanting faster but at the same volume. As the speed increased his fingers started to slip inside the markings. His hand was literally going inside him. Suddenly Canada plunged his hand into Gilbert's stomach and an unimaginable pain ripped through his body. It felt like something was eating him from the inside out. He bit the spoon in his mouth to stop himself from screaming. It felt like all his bones were being pulled out of place then forced back together then shattered. Something like fire seemed to burn behind his eyes causing tears that felt like burning ice fall down his face. He could hear his blood boiling in his ears and his heart beating frantically in his chest. He wanted to black out and die. He wanted that pain to end. His vision became blurred and he tasted something like hot copper in his mouth. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and he let out a strangled breath.

'_Come on! I want to die! Please this hurts so much! I need to die! I have to die! Please! I have to! Please! Please! I have to die now! Please! PLEASE! I WANT TO DIE!_'

Suddenly something like a wave of ice cold water washed over him and he spat out the wooden spoon. His eyes were blurred with tears and his chest heaved as he forced the cool air of the room into his lungs. He could see Canada's blurred shape in front of him. "Hey Gilbert! You're really strong you know that right? You did so good okay? I got the stone out so you're fine now okay?" He wiped away Gilbert's tears and undid the leather straps on his arms and legs. He pulled him into his lap and rubbed his back soothingly. "It's okay now. It's all over Gilbert. You did really well."

Gilbert was too tired to move. He just stayed in Canada's arms trembling and gasping for breath. "Did you get it?" He wheezed.

Canada nodded and held up a blue rock. "The lapis lazuli." He said. "The final stone in the collection… Now I can go home."

Gilbert frowned as he looked at the stone. '_So… that stupid thing almost got me killed? Fuck. Next time I get one of those things inside me I want to die._'

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **So… yeah… Reviews?


	19. Going home

**Shinigami-cat: **Yeah… I OWN NOTHING!

**Going home**

When Gilbert was able to stand again Canada convinced him to wear some of his clothes while he put his wet clothes in the dryer. Gilbert was sitting on the dryer in a pair of black track pants and a hockey jersey. He sighed as he thought about Canada leaving. Sure he would be happy to see him go and he was grateful that he got rid of the water stone that was inside him.

But now he wasn't sure… The removal of the stone seemed to have changed his attitude slightly. He was still as awesome as he ever was but he just didn't feel as… reckless. Was that the word? Yes. He didn't feel as reckless as before. Perhaps the stone was responsible for his suicidal thoughts? Maybe… But he still wanted to see Matthew more than anything.

He sighed and looked over at the table. The book Canada had read from was still there. He frowned and walked over to the table. He picked it up and had a flick through it. There was nothing of much interest in there. Just a bunch of random symbols and words that make little to no sense.

Eventually he got to a page on the five stones. There were little had written notes next to each stone. Perhaps they were made by Canada or maybe someone else? There were quite a few different sets of hand writing. He looked at the note next to the water stone and read it.

_The Water stone:_

_Controls most states of water e.g. fog, mist, water, ice. Has been noted that it can change salt water into fresh water and can remove any and all drinkable water from any life form. Most who are in possession of this stone end up being controlled by it, usually causing violent sea storms and changes in the weather. Most is mild but some can be extreme. Has been known to make people depressed after long exposure to its power. It is interesting to note that almost all who have used the water stone die a water related death._

Gilbert sighed. "Yeah… that probably explains why I was so hell bent on drowning myself." He was about to close the book when something red caught his eye. It was a small note written in really loopy hand-writing.

_IMPORTANT!_

_All thought it has been claimed that the stones can't bring the dead to life it is a lie! Several times the stones have been used to bring the dead back to life but it's only to be used when it is most important._

Gilbert's eyes went wide and he read that note over and over again to make sure he hadn't miss read it. "They can bring the dead back to life? But… Canada said… He said that they… he said that they couldn't… He said nothing can bring the dead back to life… Why did he lie?"

He closed the book and just stared off into space. His mind was running through all the reasons Canada would lie to him. Maybe Canada really did hate him. He sighed, picked up the book and walked down the hall. He walked into a room and frowned. Canada was sitting on a box looking thoughtfully at the box that now contained all five of the stones. Gilbert coughed and Canada looked over at him and smiled. "Oh hey Gilbert."

Gilbert nodded. "Hey… So, are you just going to wish yourself back home or something? Save on air fare and stuff?"

Canada shrugged and put the box down on the floor. "I honestly don't know… I didn't think I would find the stones so quickly… I really wanted to go to Japan for a while. Kuma really likes sushi because of the raw fish and stuff."

Gilbert nodded and slowly walked towards the box containing the stones. "Yeah… So how many wishes can you make with them?"

Canada shrugged. "Unlimited really." He scratched his chin and sighed. "You can make any amount of wishes."

Gilbert nodded, he was a few feet away from the box now. "Yeah… so when are you going home?"

Canada sighed and frowned. "I don't want to go home. I hate it there." Canada looked down at his feet. The shine in his eyes seemed to dull. "Don't get me wrong there are some things that I like but for the most part it sucks… Yeah…"

Gilbert tilted his head in confusion. "You want to go home but you don't?"

"I guess you would have to have grown up where I was to know why I hate my home." Said Canada dully. He sighed again and stood up stretching his arms. "Oh well… I guess I should make sure Kuma gets back soon."

Gilbert nodded and frowned. "Yeah… I want to show you something interesting." He opened the book and held it up to Canada. "Why did you lie to me?"

Canada looked at the page Gilbert was showing him and gulped. "Um… lie about what?"

Gilbert glared at Canada. "You know bloody well what I mean. You said that there was no way you could bring someone back to life with them! You lied to me!"

Canada groaned and ran his fingers through his hair. "Gilbert… It's not that simple… My papa wrote that in there years ago when he was drunk to make my brother feel better when he lost his girlfriend Amelia. I have no idea if it will work or not. Best leave well enough alone right?" He asked with hopeful eyes.

Gilbert just glared at him. "So did he wish her back?"

Canada shook his head. "No. My brother was smart enough to realize that when someone dies they should stay dead… To bring the dead back to life is just wrong! It's the worst kind of offence anyone can commit!"

"Worse than murder?" Asked Gilbert curiously.

"A million times worse!" Cried Canada. "The dead have to stay dead! They might not even want to live anymore! They might want to be dead!"

"No one wants to be dead!" Yelled Gilbert. "If people could live forever they would!"

"That's a little rich coming from the guy that just tried to kill himself, what was it? Twice today! Twice!"

"Well I wouldn't have even considered it if Matthew was still alive!"

Canada sighed and shook his head. "Gilbert… Matthew is better off dead."

"Don't you dare!" Yelled Gilbert. "Matthew is not better off dead! He deserves to live a full life he didn't deserve to drown!"

"I just don't understand you!" Snapped Canada. "One second you are demanding that I kill you and then the next you want to bring someone back to life! You are impossible Gilbert! Absolutely impossible!"

"I don't care!" Yelled Gilbert. Rage was building up inside. "I would gladly trade my life for Matthew's! He means that much to me! His life is a million times more important then mine."

"STOP TALKING LIKE YOUR LIFE MEANS NOTHING!" Screamed Canada. "Does your life really mean nothing to you? Damn it Gilbert you make no sense!"

Gilbert laughed. "Of course I don't! I don't even know what's going on in my own head half the time!" He looked over at the box and quickly glanced over and Canada. "All you have to do is hold the box and make a wish right?"

Canada's eyes went wide. "Don't do it."

Gilbert smirked and quickly dived for the box. He grabbed it but Canada quickly tackled him to the ground. Gilbert held the box close to his chest and did his best to wriggle out of Canada's grip. "FUCK OFF!"

"GIVE ME BACK THE BOX!" Yelled Canada.

"NO! JUST LET ME MAKE ONE WISH!" Cried Gilbert as he thrashed about in Canada's arms.

"You don't need to make a wish." Hissed Canada sharply. "You're only supposed to make a wish with them when it is absolutely necessary. If you just make random wishes and any time who knows what damage you could do!" He grabbed the box and tried to pull it out of Gilbert's hands.

"I just want Matthew back." Spat Gilbert. "What's more necessary then that?"

"World peace." Said Canada. "The end of poverty, a solution to the energy crisis. Matthew is just an insignificant spec in the big picture! His life means little to nothing!"

Gilbert growled and tried to push Canada away with his feet. "Fuck was I wrong about you. You're nothing like Matthew. You're so selfish! Matthew would have been more than happy to bring someone back to life if he could."

"Just because you can bring someone back to life doesn't mean you should!" Snapped Canada. "Would you bring Hitler back to life just for the hell of it?"

"I'm not that retarted!" Hissed Gilbert. "I'm not bringing back some egotistical, racist, psycho dictator from world war two! I'm just bringing back Matthew!" He grunted as Canada again attempted to yank the box out of his hands.

"Everything happens for a reason Gilbert." Snapped Canada. "If Matthew was meant to die then he should stay dead. It's not like someone came from the future and shot him, messing up the whole freaking timeline! He just drowned! Get that through your thick skull! Matthew is dead! Stop trying to bring him back to life!"

Gilbert growled and head butted Canada, making him let go of the box. Gilbert smirked and quickly stood up. "Hells yeah! I wish that Matthe-"

Suddenly the door opened and Kuma walked in. "I'm back… What's going on?"

"Stop him!" Cried Canada. "He has the stones!" Kuma quickly turned into a giant polar bear and jumped on top of Gilbert, knocking the box out of his hands. Canada quickly picked up the box and sighed. "Good… you stopped him…"

Gilbert growled and tried to move the paw off his chest but when he tried Kuma growled and leaned his face in dangerously close to the albino's neck. "Fuck you Canada." He hissed. "I just wanted Matthew back… Why can't you just… Oh just fuck off back to where ever it is you came from… and take your stupid bear with you."

Canada rolled his eyes and leaned against Kuma, the box in his hands. "Gilbert… Don't take it to heart. I just don't think wishing someone back from the dead will help at all. It's better to remember all the good times and move on… That's what we all have to do… that's what we all did…"

Gilbert sighed. "Just go home."

Canada chuckled. "Yeah… I wish I could go home." Suddenly Canada's eyes went wide and he looked down at the box in his hands. It was starting to glow. "I DIDN'T MEAN IT!" He cried. "SARCASIM! I WAS BEING SARCASTIC!" Suddenly a blinding light filled the room and was gone in a flash. Canada, Kuma and Gilbert were gone.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Gilbert slowly opened his eyes and frowned. He was lying on a bed of snow looking up at a bunch of pine trees. The sky was grey and there was a haunting whistle of wind through the trees. He groaned and slowly sat up. His body felt like it had been through a blender. "What the hell just happened?"

"NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! DON'T YOU DARE! DON'T YOU DARE!" Gilbert quickly turned to see Kuma sitting beside one pissed off Canada, who was holding onto the wooden box that was slowly fading until it was completely gone. Canada screamed and pulled his hair. "OH COME ON! I DIDN'T EVEN REALLY WISH FOR THIS! DOES SARCASIM COUNT FOR NOTHING WITH THAT STUPID BOX? AHHHHHHH!"

Gilbert sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "What the hell are you screaming about?"

Canada glared at Gilbert. "You idiot." He growled as he slowly stood up. "You just had to be selfish and try to make a wish. You made me say '_I wish I could go home_' when in all honesty I wish I was anywhere but here. So here we are Gilbert. Welcome to my home!"

"And here is where exactly?" Asked Gilbert. How was he going to explain where he was to his family?

Canada sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Um… a parallel earth."

"No seriously where are we?" Gilbert was not in the mood for one of Canada's jokes.

"A parallel universe." Deadpanned Canada. "Like your universe except different."

"Right…" Said Gilbert. "Magic I'll believe but parallel worlds, not so much." He slowly stood up and dusted of his now wet track pants. Snow sucked.

Canada rolled his eyes and glanced over at Kuma who. "Kuma you're fast right? Go run off and find Papa or Dad or my brother. They'll know what to do." Kuma nodded and quickly bounded off into the snowy land scape. When he was out of sight Canada turned back to Gilbert. "So… are you freezing yet?"

Gilbert nodded. "Yeah… Where are we?"

Canada shrugged. "Somewhere in the northern hemisphere… Not sure which country though…"

Gilbert rolled his eyes and rubbed his cold arms. "How the hell can you not know which country?"

Canada shrugged. "We just got blasted through time and space and survive when the stones are at their weakest and you complain that you don't know which country we are in?"

"Yeah I don't buy all this alternate universe stuff." Said Gilbert. "Can you do something about all this freezing and being wet?"

Canada sighed and waved his hand as he whispered some words. Instantly Gilbert's clothes became water proof and warm. "That will do until we get some warmer clothes."

Gilbert nodded. "Yeah… How far from civilization?"

Canada looked up into the sky and frowned. "Well… Judging by that cloud of black smoke just over the horizon… I'd say we are a few hours away… May as well start walking." Canada started to march through the snow with his hoodie pulled up.

Gilbert just frowned. "Shouldn't we follow Kuma?"

Canada shook his head. "Kuma is really fast. He's probably three countries away by now. He needs to climb up really high to get coordinated. We'll have to find our own way."

Gilbert nodded. "Yeah… I need to find a phone."

Canada rolled his eyes and shook his head. "We are in a parallel world Gilbert. My world. In my world mobile phones haven't worked for at least six years… and land lines only work for a few kilometres before they fizzle out."

"Still not buying it." Said Gilbert.

"I don't care."

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat:** DA DA DAAAAAAAAAAAA! Please review!


	20. The town

**Shinigami-cat: **So… yeah they are in a parallel world and just a warning there is gore and horror up ahead… I OWN NOTHING!

**The town**

As they trudged through the snow Gilbert became worried. He knew that everyone back home would be worrying about him. They would probably think he committed suicide. How was he going to explain it to them when he could call them? He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice Canada had stopped walking and bumped to him. "Don't suddenly stop damn it." Hiss Gilbert.

Canada said nothing he just looked around with a worried expression on his face. "We aren't alone." He whispered. "There is something out there…"

Gilbert frowned and quickly looked around. "I don't see anything."

Canada frowned and started walking again. "Just keep an eye out for anything strange…"

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Yeah… So how long until we get to civilization again?"

"Just over this hill." Said Canada. "At least we'll know which country we are in then." Slowly the pair started to climb the hill. Neither of them were expecting the sight that was laid out in front of them; a large township, collapsed buildings, spot fires, abandoned.

Gilbert's eyes went wide. "What the hell?"

Canada shook his head in disbelief. "Oh maple this can't be happening! Why? How? Who? When?"

Gilbert looked at the town then back to Canada. "Okay good news and bad news. Bad news, looks like everyone there is gone. Good news, I believe you. We are in a parallel world."

Canada rolled his eyes and slowly started to walk down the hill. "Good to know."

Gilbert quickly followed Canada. "So why are we heading towards that town?"

Canada shrugged. "Look for survivors… Try to figure out what happened… stock up on supplies like food, water, weapons."

"Weapons?"

"Of course." Said Canada. "If we don't have weapons how will we defend ourselves if we get attacked later on?" They made their way to the main street and started to walk into the town. There were a few burning cars about the place indicating that whatever happened to the town happened recently. Canada kept looking up at the sky or at the high tops of buildings.

After what seemed like hours of walking they stopped in a back street to rest. Gilbert sighed and looked around the wasteland of a town. "Wow…" He muttered. "What a shit place…"

Canada nodded. "Yeah… Wait here and don't move. I'll be back in a second." He quickly ran down the road a disappeared behind a building. Gilbert sighed and leaned against the wall. He quickly got bored and started to look around. Broken glass and twisted scrap metal littered the cracked streets. It was a disturbing view of this apocalyptic world, but it could have been worse really.

The sound of glass scraping along the ground caught Gilbert's attention. He quickly looked down a back ally and frowned. Way down the back there was something moving. Cautiously he walked towards it. As it turns out it was a little girl. She couldn't have been more than six or seven, wearing a tattered grey dress.

The little girl's long matted hair fell over her face as she carefully shifted little bits of glass around in the dirt. "Hey are you okay kid?" Called Gilbert. The girl didn't move so Gilbert walked over to her. He crouched down and touched her shoulder. "Hey are you okay?"

The girl grabbed a shard of glass and screamed as she tackled Gilbert to the ground. Gilbert only just managed to grab her arms and hold them away from his face. The girl's face was paper white, dark blue veins branched out across it, eyes completely blood red, lips dark purple almost black and her teeth were sharp almost needle point.

"HOLY SHIT!" He cried. "WHAT THE HELL?" The girl continued to thrash and scream when she suddenly gasped and her eyes went wide with shock. A small trickle of blood ran down her lip and she went limp. Gilbert pushed her to the side and sat up. There was a huge dent in the back of her head. "What the hell?"

Canada growled and threw the rusted crowbar down. "Next time I say don't move I mean don't move! You could have gotten infected and turned into that thing!" He hissed as he pointed to the dead girl.

"What the hell was that?" Asked Gilbert as he quickly got to his feet.

"A junior Plague." Said Canada sadly. "The second last stage is red eyes, pigment free skin, needle teeth and uncontrollable rage. After that… Well you've seen the result."

Gilbert's eyes went wide. "Plagues are humans?"

"No." Said Canada. "They aren't human. Not anymore…"

Gilbert gulped and bit his bottom lip. "So… Where did you run off to?"

Canada scratched the back of his head and shrugged. "I just went to see if I could find something I could climb up to have a look around, but then I heard you scream so I ran back and found you almost getting killed."

"Shut up." Growled Gilbert.

Canada sighed. "Come on… We should probably see if there is anything in the town square that can tell us what happened… You should probably bring that crowbar too."

Gilbert rolled his eyes and picked up the crowbar. There was still blood on it. "Shit… did you have to hit her so hard?"

Canada frowned. "I thought I hit her rather gently. Her brain isn't all over the walls so I'm pretty sure I hit her gently."

Gilbert's eyes went wide. '_Holy shit! How strong is this guy?_'

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

After a few minutes they reached the sown square. It was pretty much the same as the rest of the town, except for one major difference. There was a word spray painted across the doors to the main building in neon green. CROATOA.

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "Croatoa? What the hell is that?"

Canada quickly walked over to the doors. He traced his fingers over the word and growled. "Croatoa… It's an old and ancient word. It used to be a very powerful word but over time it lost all meaning. Here Croatoa is a virus made by magic. Very dark and evil magic. It's the official name for what I have."

Gilbert frowned. "You mean that thing that you said was like super AIDS?"

Canada nodded. "In the end the very soul of anyone who has Croatoa will burn away until there is nothing left but an empty shell, always hungry, always angry, always searching for more like itself. But if there's no food they will eat each other."

"That's disgusting."

"That's survival. Now we have to be really careful." He looked down at his fingers and frowned. Green paint was on his fingertips. "This wasn't carved to long ago so there are probably still people infected with Croatoa around here."

Gilbert nodded. "Why does Croatoa sound familiar?"

Canada shrugged. "You're probably thinking of the Roanoke Colony that disappeared way back when America was first getting colonized in the late sixteenth century."

"Yeah. They carved Croatoa onto a tree before they disappeared right?"

Canada shook his head. "Nope. That was my dad. He was messing around with magic and ended up blasting himself over to another world. That idiot accidently leaked Croatoa into there. Thank maple it died out before John White came back three years later."

"So you're not the first one who's been to a parallel world?"

"No way." Said Canada. "But as far as I know my dad is the only one who has ever gotten across the void."

"What's the void?" Asked Gilbert.

Canada shrugged. "It's like a paper thin gap between dimensions. It's a place where time, space, matter, light, darkness and everything doesn't exist. A place of eternal darkness… Someone can spend a billion years trapped in the void and never know it. They would just be trapped… unable to do anything but wait… Wait until something rips a tiny little hole in that gap then it can jump through as easily as breathing…"

"Is there any way to fix it?"

"That's why I need to get you home." Said Canada. "The void will always be ripped as long as a living creature from another world is in another. In other words me being in your world caused a dimensional shift in the fabric of reality causing some Plagues to escape into your world… Nothing that bad. Easily fixed. As soon as you are back in your world the void will close and no one will be able you jump dimensions again."

Gilbert nodded. "Yeah… I'm guessing we'll have to find your dad or papa to fix this one?"

Canada shrugged. "Hopefully they can fix it."

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN HOPEFULLY?" Screamed Gilbert. His voice echoed through the town and rattled some loose windows. The level of his volume slightly startled the albino.

Suddenly the sound of something similar to iron snapping rang around them and Canada gulped. "You shouldn't have screamed."

Slowly creatures started to emerge from their hiding places; some had twisted faces and missing limbs, fangs were sticking out, patched of skin were frozen and falling off their bodies in chunks and some of them didn't even have skin at all.

"Oh shit." Squeaked Gilbert. This was just not his day.

Canada gulped and quickly grabbed a discarded piece of rope. "You have to hit them in the head." He said. "Just like a zombie movie. Aim for the head!" He quickly muttered some words and waved his hand over the rope turning it into a whip. He quickly flicked the whip out, wrapping it around one of the monsters and quickly pulled, causing the monster to fly through the air and smash head first into the doors, covering Canada in blood.

Gilbert gripped the crowbar tightly and swung it at a monster that charged at him, knocking its head off. He cringed as droplets of that sticky, hot, crimson liquid made contact with his skin. But he didn't have time to worry about that as another monster jumped at him.

He swung the crowbar but missed hitting the monsters head. Instead he slammed it into the creature's chest, causing the crowbar to get caught on its ribs. "Oh you have to be fucking kidding me…" The creature lashed out and tried to grab Gilbert's arms But Gilbert quickly let go and jumped back. He was now weapon less and surrounded by a bunch of flesh eating monsters. He did the only thing he could do. He ran. "Canada let's get out of here!" He yelled as he ran past him.

Canada nodded and quickly followed Gilbert. After running through many back ally's and streets they managed to escape from monsters by hiding behind a decaying brick wall. Gilbert pretty much dived head first behind it and Canada quickly followed. "Those Plagues are pretty ugly huh?" Breathed Canada.

Gilbert panted heavily and glared at Canada. "What the fuck was that? They sure as hell aren't Plagues! They look like something out of silent hill or resident evil! Fuck even amnesia!"

Canada shrugged. "They are Plagues." He said sadly. "Different Plagues in different countries. Each Plague adapted to fit the country… And about them looking like the monsters from silent hill, dreams are gateways into other worlds. People can have out of body experiences where they can take glimpses of other worlds. That's where most horror and fantasy comes from. Other worlds."

"Yeah well… Fuck."

Canada sighed and shrugged. "At least I know where we are."

"And where might that be?" Asked Gilbert.

"East Russia." Said Canada. "Lots of those kinds of plagues here."

"Are we going to run into Pyramid head?" Asked Gilbert nervously. He wasn't really one to get nervous so easily, but years of playing silent hill games and watching the movie had taught him one very important thing, don't fuck around with Pyramid head.

Canada shook his head. "Nope. Last time I saw one of those they were in Greece."

"We aren't going to Greece are we?"

"We can't stop off in Greece. It's been declared a '_Dead zone_'. All Dead zones are not allowed to have any free roaming humans in them. They only have H farms there now. It's horrible."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "H farms?"

Canada shook his head. "It's not important. Let's just get out of here." Gilbert nodded in agreement. They slowly snuck out of the Russian town, being careful not to run into anymore Plagues. They didn't stop until they were safely back in the snow covered forests.

Gilbert leaned against a tree and sighed. "Well… that was fun…"

Canada nodded. "Yeah… and at least we have two weapons now. A whip and a crowbar…" He looked over at Gilbert and frowned. "Where's the crowbar?"

Gilbert laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head. "Um… The Plague has it…"

Canada face palmed. "You have got to be kidding me…"

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Well excuse! What was I meant to do? Ask the Plague if I could have it back so I could smash its ugly face in? I don't think so damn it! It would have killed me!"

Canada sighed. "Yeah… Well I guess I should make you a spear or something so you can defend yourself next time we run into them…"

Gilbert nodded. "Hey Canada… You said that you were infected with Croatoa… Why aren't you like them?"

Canada shrugged. "It takes longer for Croatoa to take over one of us than it does for a human."

Gilbert frowned. "So where to now? We only have one freaking whip and no food."

Canada shrugged. "Well I guess we just keep walking. If we are lucky we might find a half-eaten carcass around."

Gilbert wrinkled his nose. "That's gross."

"Then have fun eating snow." Said Canada as he started to walk into the trees. Gilbert sighed and quickly followed him. He didn't know what to think anymore really. A parallel earth, in the middle of its apocalypse, with a Canadian. It sounded like a bad joke.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Yeah… I just had to make Canada's weapon a whip… just for the hell of it XD


	21. Along the snow capped roads

**Shinigami-cat: **Yeah, I hope you all like this next chapter… I OWN NOTHING!

**Along the snow-capped road**

Once they were a fair distance away from the town the sat down and rested in an abandoned cave. Even though Gilbert's clothes were warm they weren't enough to stop him from shivering. He curled up into a ball and sighed, the reality of his situation sinking in. '_Ludwig… Francis… Antonio… None of them know where I am… none of them will be able to find me… I'll never go home will I?_' He could feel his cheeks becoming damp with tears. '_Shit… this sucks…_'

The sound of shifting stones made him look up. Canada was moving some stones to make a small circle. When he was done he stood up and walked outside. "I'll be back in a bit. I'm just getting some wood."

"What for?" Asked Gilbert.

"I want to make a fire." Said Canada with a smile. "You don't seem to be handling the cold very well." With that he quickly walked out of the cave and disappeared into the snow.

When he was gone Gilbert sighed and looked around the cave. The grey walls were dripping with a bit of green slim and fungus. In one of the corners of the cave there was a little gold and green spider sitting on its web. Its eight beady eyes were looking right at him. It was creepy. He buried his face into his knees and groaned. His whole body felt numb and it didn't help that the skin on his fingers was starting to turn a light shade of blue. He sighed and breathed on his fingers. They tingled but that was it.

He looked down at his feet and frowned. '_This world is so cold…_' He looked back at the cave entrance, a small smile tugged at his lips as he saw Canada walking back with some tree branches. He walked back into the cave, broke some of the sticks, put them in the stone circle and started to light a fire. He put a flat branch in between his feet, pressed a pointed stick on the wood and started to rub it together. Gilbert frowned and raised an eyebrow.

Canada looked over at Gilbert and frowned. "What?"

"What are you doing?" Asked Gilbert. "Wouldn't you just cast a spell?"

Canada rolled his eyes and looked back at the sticks. "I can't perform fire magic… Well I can but I doubt that anyone wants a crater the size of texes anywhere right now." After a few minutes a small stream of black smoke hissed out of the wood. Canada grinned and pulled out some paper from his pocket and tipped the embers onto it. He blew onto them and quickly put them under the twigs and branches. Soon they had a small fire going and Gilbert was able to warm his hands.

"So what are we going to do for food?" Asked Gilbert.

Canada shrugged. "What can you catch with a whip?"

"We are going to starve aren't we?"

Canada shrugged. "Well I could always go and see if I can find something… But I have no idea what I'll find… I might be able to find some nuts…"

Gilbert shook his head. "No… It's fine… I'm not that hungry."

Canada shrugged. "Well I'll find something tomorrow than. It's starting to get dark."

Gilbert nodded and lied down next to the fire. He watched the flames jump around like they were dancing. He hadn't realized how exhausted he was until then. Maybe it was the physical stress of running for his life or the mental stress of coming to grip with everything that had happened. Either way Gilbert's eyes felt heavy and he let them drift closed. He fell into an uneasy sleep.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Gilbert woke up to the smell of blood and cooking meat. He looked up at Canada, he was covered in small amounts of dried blood, a few scratches, bits of animal fur and he had a scratch mark on his face. He smiled at Gilbert. "Morning Gilbert."

Gilbert nodded and slowly sat up. His back hurt from sleeping on the ground all night. "Hey… What did you catch?"

Canada chuckled. "Well... My brother would call this Chinese food."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "Chinese food?"

Canada nodded and handed a leg of meat over to Gilbert. "Yeah, in other words don't ask don't tell. Like the same way you wouldn't ask what was in a hot dog."

Gilbert nodded. "Oh… Okay." He cautiously bit into the meat. It was surprisingly soft and tender. It just fell apart in his mouth. It had a good natural flavour that he really liked. It wasn't over powered by the smoky taste of the fire. If anything the smoke added to the flavour and the small bits of fat in the meat melted on his tongue like butter. It was so good. He practically wolfed down the meat.

Canada smiled at Gilbert's reaction and started to eat his leg of meat. When they were done they threw the bones on the fire and tried to make plans about where to go. They decided to travel west because Canada said that his family wouldn't be anywhere in Russia or Asia. Before they left Canada gave Gilbert a heavy branch. "A temporary weapon." He said. "Until we can find something better."

Gilbert sighed and slung the branch over his shoulder. "Great..."

Canada frowned. "What? We can get you a better weapon later. It's just for a little while."

Gilbert shrugged. "Can I get a sword later? I want a sword… or a gun."

"Guns are stupid." Said Canada. "When you run out of bullets you have to hit your enemies up close and you're more likely to destroy your gun… That's why my brother has a gun… Idiot…"

Gilbert chuckled and followed Canada through the snow. "Yeah… you talk about your family a lot… What's your brother's name?"

"America." Said Canada. "My brother is America, the USA."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "So… Canada isn't a nick name? It's your actual name?"

Canada nodded. "Yeah… I'm the personification of Canada and he's the personification of America. All the countries are personified."

Gilbert looked up at the sky and nodded. "That's cool… Wait a second… Does that mean your dad and papa are France and England?"

Canada smiled and nodded. "Yeah… Dad is England and Papa is France."

"I always thought France would have been a chick." Mused Gilbert. He chuckled at the mental image he was getting. "You know long blond hair, soft blue eyes, sexy curved body and a demon in bed."

Canada's face went bright red. "Sadly that sounds like Papa… apart from the curved body part… Oh god bad mental images…" He cringed and pulled a face. "Yeah… I'm going to have nightmares now."

Gilbert chuckled. "Sucks to be you. Glad I haven't met him yet." He started to think about what England looked like. All he could think of was a fat man in a bowler hat, smoking a pipe and wearing one of those stupid stuffy suits. "So where do you think they'll be?"

Canada shrugged and looked around the trees. "They would either be at my Papa's house or Dad's house… depending if their home is now a dead zone or not." He furrowed his brows at that thought.

Gilbert shrugged. "Yeah… so are all the countries personified?"

Canada nodded. "Yeah. North and south Italy are personified, Russia, Hungary, China, Spain… and so on."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "North and south Italy?"

Canada nodded. "Don't you study world history? Romano was south Italy and Italy was the northern half and they were unified later on. North and South, creating one Italy… Or something like that anyway."

Gilbert nodded. He sort of understood. He would have to read about it later, when and if he could get his hands on a book or some place with internet access. Suddenly his eyes lit up. "Hey so every country is personified right? What about Prussia? What's he like? Prussia is a he right? Who cares, Prussia is fucking awesome boy or girl."

Canada was a little taken aback by Gilbert's excitement to learn more about Prussia. He smiled slightly and scratched the back of his neck. "Well… Prussia is a boy and he is…" Canada's smile slipped slightly and he looked down at the snow. "He was a fighter. Someone you wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley late at night… But he was a good man. Loyal to his friends and would sacrifice himself for those he cared about. He risked life and limb for his country, but in the end his country dissolved but he stuck around. He lived in Germany's basement for years… Not sure what he's doing now though… Probably fighting still…"

Gilbert nodded. He was satisfied with Canada's answer. Prussia sounded like an awesome guy. Someone who was bold and dashing. A bad ass who was also a knight. He smirked. "I hope I can meet him. He sounds awesome."

Canada laughed. "Don't tell him that. You'll just inflate his ego."

Gilbert stuck out his tongue. "Prussia is an awesome country! He deserves to have an inflated ego! He's just that awesome!"

"Yeah… awesome." Muttered Canada. His smile was now wiped from his face, a slight scowl now tugged at his lips. "Let's just keep walking…"

Gilbert raised an eyebrow and swung his club around a little. His muscles were getting a little stiff. '_What's up with him? He's probably just jealous because Prussia is way more awesome than him. _'

After walking through the snow for a few hours Gilbert started to get tired. Canada noticed and declared that they stop. Gilbert sat at the foot of a tree while Canada walked around for a bit, but not too far. He never left Gilbert's sight. After a while Gilbert's throat started to feel a little dry and sticky. "Hey Canada what are we going to do about water?"

Canada thought for a second and walked over to Gilbert. He crouched down in front of Gilbert. "Okay, put some snow in your hands." Gilbert did as he was told and put some snow in his hands. Canada nodded. "Good, now cup your hands around the snow." Once Gilbert had done that Canada cupped his hands over Gilbert's. Soon the snow in his hands melted and Canada removed his hands from Gilbert and stood up. "There you go."

Gilbert opened his hands and saw that the snow was now water. He grinned and quickly drank it. He was still a little thirsty but it wasn't that bad. He went back to watching Canada. He was practicing using the whip. He unfurled it and practiced cracking it once or twice before he got really confident and started to become more crack the whip like a professional. The whip was pretty much invisible in his hands and the echo of his whip whistled around the trees. But he abruptly stopped when his whip got caught on a tree branch.

"Fail!" Yelled Gilbert.

Canada rolled his eyes. "Shut up." He climbed up the whip and undid it. Suddenly his eyes went wide. "Gilbert… Gut up here now."

Gilbert sighed and stood up. "Why?"

Canada looked down at Gilbert with panic filled eyes. "Unless you want to die I suggest you get up here now!"

Gilbert shrugged and quickly climbed up the tree and over to the branch where Canada was sitting. "So what's happening?"

Canada said nothing. He just pointed at the trees. After a few seconds a small pack of skinny dingo like dogs walked out from the trees. Their eyes were a milky green colour, their fur was grey and patch, yellow drool drizzled from their festering snouts and their sickly pink tongues darted out of their mouths. Gilbert cringed and looked over at Canada. He looked extremely nervous.

One of the dogs walked over to the branch that Gilbert was going to use as a club. It sniffed it and growled. The other dogs immediately went over to the club and sniffed it. They all started to growl. Suddenly one of the dogs opened its mouth and its tongue shot out, wrapping around the club before swallowing it whole. The dogs stomach twisted and expanded making it look obese. When the club was settled in its guts the dogs quickly darted off.

"What were those things? Asked Gilbert. "And what the hell did they do to my club?"

Canada frowned. "Grabbers. They are a sub species of Plague. They are at the very bottom of the Plague hierarchy. They run around in packs grabbing any human they can. They either eat them or take them to H farms to be… To be catalogued and processed. Put into the system. Sometimes they are made to follow people."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "Catalogued? Processed? Put into the system?"

Canada nodded sadly. "Yeah… I'll explain later… Let's just try and put some distance between them and us… We should probably climb through the trees for a bit… They won't be able to track up here."

"How the hell are we going to do that?" Hissed Gilbert.

Canada smirked and slowly stood up on the branch with his whip in hand. He cracked the whip wrapping it around a branch in another tree. He looked over at Gilbert and smiled. "What are you waiting for? An invitation? Hold on to me."

Gilbert frowned slowly stood up. "Yeah… um… How do I? This is getting awkward."

Canada sighed. "Yeah… Fine we'll do it this way." He reached over and grabbed Gilbert around his waist and pulled him close. Once Gilbert was secure Canada jumped.

Gilbert gulped and latched onto Canada like a koala cub. '_Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit!_'

Once they were safely on the branch of the next tree Canada chuckled. "There's no reason to be scared Gilbert."

"Shut up." Snapped Gilbert. "You freaking grabbed me and jumped! We could have fallen!"

Canada rolled his eyes. "I'm not that weak. I can carry just as much as any other nation."

"I'm not denying that." Mutter Gilbert. "I just don't want to fall and get eaten by a Grabber."

Canada sighed and looked at Gilbert. "Gilbert Belischmidt." He said calmly, yet sternly. "I promise you, I won't let the kill you. They won't harm you, because I will protect you."

A slight blush dusted Gilbert cheeks and he looked away. '_Damn him… Why did he have to say it like that? I feel like such a girl now._'

"Now can we get going?" Asked Canada. "We just need to do this about ten more times than we can keep walking."

Gilbert sighed and wrapped his arms around Canada's chest. "Yeah, yeah let's go." Canada smiled and wrapped his arm around Gilbert's waist again. He latched the whip onto the next branch and jumped.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **There… Reviews please.


	22. A house in a valley

**Shinigami-cat: **Yeah… I OWN NOTHING!

**A house in a valley**

They had been traveling together for a few days now. They hadn't run into anymore Plagues or Grabbers and Gilbert now had a new weapon. A rock hammer. Canada had found a half-finished axe when they had a look through an abandoned house and had fixed a rock onto the end of it with glue and rope.

Gilbert was grateful for the weapon and had used every spare moment they had to practice little techniques Canada had taught him. He wouldn't have to rely on Canada for help for too much longer. At the moment Canada was pressing the hammer against his temple to show Gilbert where to strike.

"If you hit here you can shatter the skull and brake through to the brain." He said.

Gilbert nodded. "Cool. Anywhere else?"

Canada shrugged and gave the hammer back to Gilbert. "If you punch someone in the nose just right the bones in the nose with shatter and launch into the brain like shrapnel."

Gilbert grinned. "Cool." He just imagined himself smashing a Plague in the face with his hammer. Just the satisfying crunch as its face got mashed to a pulp. It just filled him with joy. Yeah he was a little sick and twisted but he really hated Plagues. He swung the hammer in his hands a few times to get used to the weight before swinging through the air.

Canada smiled and took a few steps back. "Just remember when you hit something with that don't aim for where you're hitting. If you do you won't kill it."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "Then where the hell am I meant to aim?"

Canada chuckled and walked back over to Gilbert. He poked his left temple. "If you want to hit here, you have to aim here." He poked Gilbert's nose. "In other words follow through with your hits. Same goes in hand to hand combat. If you hit someone you have to punch them like you want to punch the thing that is right behind them. If you do that then you will always kill a Plague on the first hit."

Gilbert nodded. He kind of understood what Canada was saying. To kill a Plague first time every time he had to always aim further than his target. "I got it."

Canada smiled and walked over to the fire he had started and warmed his hands against it while making sure the meat didn't burn. They had been lucky enough to come across a frozen deer carcass so after several hours or trying to rip it apart the ended up with some frozen deer legs that were taking forever to cook. Gilbert looked over at Canada and walked over to him. "Is it ready yet?"

Canada shrugged and poked it with a stick. "Well… Just a bit longer. It's still frozen in the middle."

Gilbert sighed and sat next to Canada, keeping his eyes on the food. "Hey Canada… can you tell me about Plagues? You said that Grabbers were a kind of Plague so what other kinds are there?"

Canada shrugged. "Well… There are five kinds of Plagues. You have your S-Plagues, G-Plagues, B-Plagues, W-Plagues and Grabbers. S-Plagues are the smartest ones and are terrible at fighting. They are intellectuals not fighters. They mainly stay at the H farms."

Gilbert nodded and poked some of the hot coals with a stick. "I still don't know what H farms are."

"The less you know about them the better." Said Canada. He ran his fingers through the snow. "G-Plagues are guards. When they are told to guard something they will do it for centuries at a time. They won't eat, sleep or even breathe until they are told by their master to leave their post. B-Plagues are battle Plagues. The soldiers that are always in the battles." He moved his fingers from the snow and held them over the fire to warm them up. "W-Plagues are the ones you've seen. They wander around infecting everyone they can. From their they are chose to either become a B-Plague, G-Plague or S-Plague. But they can stay a W-Plague forever."

Gilbert frowned and threw his stick into the fire. "So how tough are the B-Plagues?"

Canada shrugged. "You need a lot of upper body strength to kill one of them with a hammer… Yeah you need a better weapon to take one of them down."

Gilbert looked down at his hammer and frowned. "Then why the hell did you give me this?"

"Because we're going to be dealing with W-Plagues." Said Canada. "Hunter wouldn't send B-Plagues out this far anyway."

Gilbert quirked an eyebrow. "Hunter?"

Canada sighed and looked down at his hands. "Hunter… He's a demon… The demon that started this war… He created the Plagues and spread them through this world." He clenched his hands and gritted his teeth. "He's the one that… He… He infected me."

Gilbert's eyes went wide. "He what?"

A blush of shame and embarrassment began to spread across Canada's face. "Remember how I collapsed back in the shop? Yeah. He's the one that gave it to me… He infected me."

Gilbert looked away and blushed. His mind was racing with all the possibilities about how Canada could have been infected with Croatoa by Hunter. He was stuck with three choices; injected with a needle, bitten by Hunter or raped. He really hoped he wasn't raped "Oh… I see…"

Canada shrugged and poked the meat again. "Looks like it's cooked." He pulled the leg out of the fire and gave it to Gilbert. "Careful. It's hot."

"I'm not stupid." Muttered Gilbert as he took the leg. He pulled a bit of meat off with his teeth and slowly chewed it. It was a little tough and stringy but it wasn't bad. But after a while he lost interest in it. He ended up think over who this Hunter person was.

'_Must have been one fucker of a demon._' He thought as he looked at Canada. '_I wonder if he really did… No I shouldn't think about it… That Hunter guy better not have raped him. Bastard… Maybe that's why he pushed me away so much when I threw myself at him? Probably… Maybe I'm thinking too much about this._'

"You not hungry?" Asked Canada.

Gilbert shook his head. "Not really."

"Well you better eat it anyway." Said Canada as he fiddled with the deer bone in his hands. "You don't know when we'll eat again. It could be a few days before we find another carcass… or a wounded animal… We really need to find a knife."

"Yeah." Agreed Gilbert. He looked around the snow and sighed. "Is there anyone else out there?"

"Maybe." Said Canada with sad eyes. "There are probably a few human and demon settlements around the place."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "Demons?"

Canada nodded. "Yeah. Demons are against Hunter and all he stands for. They hate that he's turning humans into Plagues."

"Why would they care?" Asked Gilbert. Shouldn't they be happy? More demons for them."

"That's where you're wrong." Said Canada. He slowly stoked the fire with the bone. "Demons need humans. They eat humans, take their souls. That's what they do. Without humans they can starve to death and be out of a job. Hunter is their enemy. They want him dead. Just like everyone else here."

Gilbert nodded and slowly started to eat his deer meat again. He never thought that a demon would be so hated by others… But since he was basically killing them off. It was understandable. When he had finished eating the sun was starting to go down. Gilbert really didn't like sleeping outside. He preferred to sleep in caves. That was he wouldn't wake up with a face full of snow.

But Canada has a solution for that. He would grab a log that had some moss growing on it and use that as a pillow. It wasn't that good but it was better than nothing. As Gilbert settled down he noticed that Canada seemed to be a little worried. "What's up?"

Canada frowned. "Nothing… It's just a little odd that we haven't seen that many Plagues lately… It's just… Unnerving."

Gilbert shrugged and yawned. "Isn't that a good thing?"

"Well yeah but… I don't know." Muttered Canada. He pulled his whip out of his pocket and frowned. "I'll just stay up tonight… I don't want something to happen…"

Gilbert shrugged and yawned. "Okay. Night."

"Night."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

The next day Gilbert and Canada were walking along the edge of the forest. Canada was reluctant to leave its natural shelter. He assumed that something bad would happen if they left. Most likely getting snatched up by Grabbers. Gilbert thought he was just over reacting. Canada was acting like Grabbers would just fall from the sky.

After a while Canada started to hum a little tune. It was something unfamiliar, something Gilbert hadn't heard before. "What song's that?"

Canada glanced over his shoulder. "Pardon?"

"That song you were humming." Said Gilbert. "What song is it?"

Canada shrugged. "It isn't really a song. It's more of a poem. This is how it goes; Bad little bird stay in your cage, watch all your friends die away, because soon you will be next choking on your blood and fears. If I find out that you have escaped me I will have to tear off your wings, so don't fly away my Beloved little bird and just drown in your tears."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "Creepy. Why would you even want to think of it?"

"It's a very famous poem here." Said Canada. "The person who wrote it was a man who was in love but when is beloved ran away he went insane and committed suicide. It was really tragic too, considering that poem was his suicide note."

"Damn." Muttered Gilbert. "That's so… unawesome."

Canada shrugged. "Well… That's just how it is. Let's try to find a river or something… I need to have a bath or something… I hate the smell of dead animal."

Gilbert nodded in agreement. "Yeah… But where are we going to find one?"

Canada shrugged. "Not sure but it doesn't matter I guess… If we want to find a river we should look for some place that slopes down like a valley."

Gilbert nodded and had a quick look around. He couldn't see anything that looked like a slope. Or even a hill. Everything was just flat. He sighed and shrugged. "I guess we just keep walking."

Canada smiled and nodded. "Yeah… But it would be easier if we were back in the forest."

"Then let's go back into the forest." Said Gilbert. He turned and walked back into the forest. Canada reluctantly followed him. The forest seemed oddly quiet. It was a little disturbing. They treaded cautiously in case there were predators about like Plagues, Grabbers or wolfs.

Luckily they didn't see anything like that and they were able to find a small patch of ground that started to slope down. They started to walk down it but the ground quickly became steep and Canada ended up tripping and rolling down the slope, Gilbert quickly followed suit. Canada groaned as he stood up. "I landed on a rock…" He muttered as he rubbed his hip.

Gilbert rubbed his head. "Yeah well… snow plus steep hills equal death. I hate Russia. It has too much fucking snow. Why couldn't we have been blasted somewhere warmer… like Egypt?"

"Luck of the draw." Muttered Canada. He had a look around and smiled. "At least we found a river." Gilbert looked over at where Canada was looking. There was indeed a small river just to the right of them. "Oh and a house."

"What?" Asked Gilbert. "Oh… that house…" There was a house that was covered up by frost and branches. It was a small two story house, made of wood and falling apart slightly.

Canada smiled and walked over to it. "We might have a roof over our heads tonight." He said cheerfully. "Maybe a bed or some knives… Some tinned food…"

A smile crept across Gilbert's face. He never really understood how some people could get worked up over the simple things in life liked tinned food and a bed, but after walking around for over a week with nothing but the clothes on his back and a hammer that Canada had made he was thankful that they could stay in a house for a while.

Gilbert walked inside after Canada and looked around. The place was relatively okay. There was a hole in the wall where a tree branch fell through but apart from that the place looked good. He walked over to the lounge room and fell onto the couch. "I love it here." He sighed.

Canada laughed and walked into the kitchen "Hey they have knives!" He called happily.

"And there's a fire place in here." Said Gilbert. He let his eyes wander around the room, fire place on one side of the room, small carpet on the floor and a couple of photos of fish hanging on the walls. Perhaps this place belonged to a fisher?

Canada walked into the lounge room and smiled. "This is great. Should we see if there are any beds upstairs?" Gilbert nodded and the two of them walked up the rickety wooden steps to the second floor. There was only one bed room. Canada sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Oh well… can't have everything. You can have the bed and I'll take the couch."

Gilbert shrugged. He didn't really care if he had to sleep on the couch or not. He was just happy he didn't have to use a log as a pillow again. "Whatever."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

The night was pretty uneventful; Canada had got the fireplace going and Gilbert discovered a broken freezer out the back full of frozen fish. They also discovered that the plumbing in the house was working really well too, so they were both able to have a warm shower and use the flush toilet. It was a nice.

When it became late Gilbert decided to nod off and go to bed. Canada smiled and waved him off but reminded him of the inevitable. "We are going to be leaving in a few days Gilbert." He said. "Don't get too used to it here."

Gilbert sighed and walked to his room. "I know." He walked into the bedroom and walked over to the window. From there he could see right out over the river and to the other side of the forest. There was also an odd pulley system starching from just above the window to the tree on the far side of the river. Probably a clothes line. He yawned and crawled under the bed sheets. Today had been pretty good. Maybe tomorrow would be a good day too.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Yeah so… Please review?


	23. Run

**Shinigami-cat:** Yeah so next chapter. Please excuse the badly translated words. If they are wrong blame Google translate… I OWN NOTHING!

**Run**

Snow fell to the ground like fine powder. It hit his face but it wasn't cold. It felt a little warm and soft on his face. He liked it. Gilbert had always hated the snow. Well not really, snow was awesome. He just didn't like all the negativity associated with it. Loneliness, lost, sorrow, sadness, death. But there was something different about this snow. It didn't seem to embody any negativity. He sighed and let his feet take him through the trees.

Out of the corner of his eye he spotted something. It was there for only a second but it was there; a pair of bright purple eyes. He looked over to where he thought he saw the eyes and walked over there.

Standing there waiting for him was Matthew. He was wearing a white night gown that went down to his knees. It had a red ribbon around the neck. He stood there smiling at him with his large, innocent eyes, ankle deep in snow.

Gilbert smiled and walked over to him, but Matthew just giggled and quickly ran off. Gilbert followed. It was like hide and seek almost. Matthew would run and hide while Gilbert would try to find him. He would always disappear for a second before he caught a glimpse of him again.

He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Where is he?" As he looked around the trees he spotted Matthew's wayward hair curl sticking out from behind a tree. He smirked and slowly crept over to the tree. He pressed his back against the tree and took a deep breath before leaping and grabbing Matthew by the shoulders.

Matthew yelped, lost his balance and fell to the ground. Gilbert smirked as he pinned the smaller blond to the ground. '_Damn he's so cute._'

Matthew sighed and looked up at Gilbert with sad eyes. Tears were starting to form in his perfect violet eyes. "I'm sorry Gilbert." He whispered.

"Sorry about what?" Asked Gilbert. He gently wiped away the tears from Matthew's face.

Matthew smiled half-heartedly. "I don't want to die… So you're going to have to."

Before Gilbert could say anything darkness fell over them and the deep rumble of growls filled the air. Gilbert looked up and gasped. There was something floating in the sky, it didn't look like a cloud or a plane. No… It was an island. A floating island but the growling… it wasn't coming from the floating island… it was coming from all around.

He quickly looked around the trees and froze when he saw them… a pack of Grabbers. Each one eyeing him off with their dead milky green eyes. He looked back at Matthew in disbelief. "You set me up?"

Matthew nodded. "I'm sorry Gilbert. I didn't want to… But I had to." Gilbert looked back at the Grabbers just in time to see one of them open their mouths and let its long, pink slime covered tongue shoot out straight at him.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Gilbert yelped as he shot up out of his dream. He looked over at the door and frowned. Canada was leaning against it and panting heavily. "Oh hey Gilbert." He panted. "Good to see you're up. Get your shoes on we are leaving."

Gilbert groaned and sat up. "Why?" The low rumbling and growls from downstairs made his eyes grow wide. "Grabbers?"

Canada nodded. "Yeah… help me move something in front of this door." Gilbert nodded and quickly moved a chair in front of the door.

"What happened?"

Canada shrugged and moved more things against the door. "I was up late last night attaching a knife to the end of my whip. I was just about to go to sleep when I heard something. I looked outside just long enough to see a pack of them walking this way."

Gilbert quickly laced up his shoe and gulped. "And how many is a few?"

Canada shrugged. "I don't know… five… seven… nine… twenty…"

Gilbert's jaw dropped. "Twenty?"

"Okay it was thirty."

"THIRTY!" Cried Gilbert. "HOW THE FUCK ARE WE GETTING OUT OF HERE?" Suddenly a Grabber rammed the door. Canada gasped and threw his body against the door.

"Maple." He hissed. "There are too many to fight head on… we have to escape." 

Gilbert ran over to the window and looked outside. There were a couple of Grabbers circling the house. "Well we sure as hell can't jump. There's a bunch of them down there."

Canada growled as the Grabber rammed the door again. "There has to be some way out of here… Is there a rope somewhere? If it's long enough we could swing across the river or something."

Gilbert's eyes went straight to the clothes line above the window. "What about this clothes line?"

"A clothes line?" Asked Canada as the Grabber continued to beat against the door. "What kind? Metal? String? Plastic?"

Gilbert touched the clothes line. "Metal with a plastic covering."

Canada thought for a second. "Good enough… You barricade the door." Gilbert nodded and quickly ran over to the door and pushed against it. Canada quickly ran over to the window and looked out at the clothes line. He ran his fingers along it and nodded. "Should hold our combined body weight… Maybe… Worst case we fall in the river which isn't so bad…"

"I DON'T CARE!" Yelled Gilbert. "ARE WE GOING TO GET OUT OF HERE ALIVE OR NOT?"

Canada sighed and looped his whip around the clothes line. It looked like he was going to attempt to make a flying fox and glide across the river over to the other side. He sat so his legs were dangling out the window. "You coming Gilbert? Or are you going to stay here?"

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "What the hell do you think?" He ran over to Canada and practically tackled him out the window. Canada cried out in shock but held on tightly to the whip as they flew over the Grabbers that howled and growled at them. Gilbert smirked at them and gripped Canada's waist tightly, but he suddenly had a strong sense of dread. "Hey Canada how do we stop?"

Canada gulped. "I didn't think that far… Oh maple…" Five seconds later Canada crashed into a tree and they both fell to the ground. Somehow Gilbert managed to land on top of Canada. Good for him not so good for Canada. "I can't feel my back…"

"Sorry." Groaned Gilbert as he got to his feet. He looked back over the river and laughed. The Grabbers were just standing there, growling and yapping at them like a puppy that was denied its favourite toy. "Suck my five meters bitches!" He taunted. "You're not getting any of this Prussian you mother fucking, dog humping, crotch sniffing, tentacle tongue, flea bitten fuckers! To awesome to eat bitches."

Canada sighed and slowly stood up. "You shouldn't taunt them. They'll figure out a way across soon enough."

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Oh come on. Like hell they'll figure it out."

Canada looked up at the window where they had jumped from. "Um… You might want to see this…"

Gilbert looked up at the window and his jaw dropped. Two Grabbers were standing at the window looked up at the clothes line. They were growling at each other, communicating, making a plan. One of them grabbed the clothes line with its tongue while the other pulled on it, slowly sending it across the river. "Oh shit…"

Canada nodded. "Yeah… We should probably run." Gilbert didn't need to be told twice. He turned and started to run with Canada close behind him. They could hear the Grabbers running through the snow, snarling and growling behind them.

Gilbert glanced over at Canada. He seemed even more freaked out then he did. "What are we going to do?"

"I have no idea!" Cried Canada. "I've never fought a Grabber before! I've just avoided them!"

"Well that's fucking fantastic!" Yelled Gilbert in frustration. "We're fucking screwed! They'll fucking eat us! FUCK!" Gilbert tripped over a tree root and went crashing to the ground. Canada skidded to a stop and quickly pulled Gilbert to his feet. Gilbert tried to run for it but Canada held him back.

"It's too late Gilbert… they have us surrounded." It was true too. The Grabbers had circled them, eyes blazing with hate and tongues darting out of their ugly snouts. Gilbert blood ran cold. It was almost like his dream… Well apart from Matthew being there and a giant floating island in the sky. Canada sighed and gripped his whip tightly. "Oh well… No point in going down without a fight eh?"

Gilbert nodded. "Yeah." If he was going to die. He would try to take as many of those Grabbers with him. He grabbed his hammer and held it up defensively. "Hey Canada… It's been awesome traveling with you."

"Same here." Said Canada. He cracked his whip stood with his back facing Gilbert's. One of the Grabbers jumped forwards at attack but Canada was quick and cracked his whip, wrapping it around the Grabber's neck and pulled. The Grabber's head fell off its body and it turned to acidy goo that burned away at the snow.

The death of one of the Grabbers seemed to set off the rest of the pack. The howled and roared as the jumped forwards. They didn't seem intent on swallowing them whole. Instead they seemed to want to rip them limb from limb.

Gilbert growled and slammed the hammer right through a Grabbers skull. But this one didn't turn to acid. It just fell to the ground, dead. But he didn't have time to figure out why that happened. He had to attack another and another. He heard a yep and turned to see Canada had been knocked to the ground and the Grabbers were trying to bite his arms, legs, stomach and neck. He ran over to him and knocked a couple of them off him.

"You okay Canada?" Asked Gilbert.

"Yeah." Nodded Canada as he quickly got to his feet. "Um… what's with the Grabbers?"

The Grabbers were whimper and backing away. Their ears were pressed flat back against their heads and they were lying close to the ground. They looked like they were in pain. Suddenly an array of arrows flew through the trees and hit the Grabbers. Gilbert around the trees. There were a few grey shapes moving through the trees, and they were getting closer.

As they got closer Gilbert noticed that the shapes were actually people. There were about seven of them moving towards them at an alarming pace. Gilbert gulped. "Um Canada?"

"I see them." Canada muttered. "Just calm down. It's okay… I don't think they'll hurt us… But just in case don't drop your hammer."

"Кидай зброю!" Yelled one of the men in his thick accent. "Кидай зброю! Зараз!" They walked over to Gilbert and Canada with their weapons raised. "Хто ви?"

"На коліна!"

"Руки за головою."

Some of the men forced Gilbert and Canada to their knees while the others went over to inspect the dead Grabbers. Gilbert took this time to have a look over his captors; they wore thick coats made from animal skins, had thick leather belts around their waists to carry their knives, bottles and other things, they wore thick woollen caps on their heads and large black ski goggles over their eyes. One of them men, who had a rifle approached Canada.

"Хто ви?" He spat.

Canada looked up at him. "Мене звуть Канаді. Це Гілберт. Ми втратили. Будь ласка, нам потрібна допомога."

"Канада?" Asked a female voice. "Канада? Це ти?" Gilbert and Canada looked over at the woman. She looked just like the others but it was quite obvious that she was female. Her clothes bludged out slightly at the front where her cleavage was hidden under layers of animal skin.

Canada's eyes went wide. "Україна?" He beamed at the woman. "Україна! Це так приємно бачити вас знову. Як там це було? Чому ви в вашому домі братів?"

The woman laughed and took off her woollen cap and goggles. She had short platinum blond hair and large blue eyes. "Oh that's a long story Canada. But it's good to see you again." She smiled at the men and they seemed to be at ease, knowing that the men before them weren't a danger. She helped Gilbert and Canada to their feet. "How are you Canada? Last I heard you were in a parallel world."

Canada laughed. "I was! But them some stuff happened and now I'm here… and I happened to pick up a hitch hiker along the way." He gestured towards Gilbert.

"Shut up!" Snapped Gilbert. "Who is she anyway?"

The woman giggled and held out her hand. "Silly me. I'm Ukraine."

Gilbert nodded and shook her hand. "Hi, well I'm Gilbert."

Ukraine nodded and looked over at Canada. "Perhaps we could discuss this better at base camp?"

Canada nodded in agreement. "Sure." He looked over at Ukraine's men who were starting to gather up the Grabbers. "Do you want us to help?"

Ukraine smiled and nodded. "Oh that would be very wonderful if you could." So Gilbert and Canada each slung a dead Grabber over their shoulders and followed Ukraine back to base camp.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Please review.

**TRANSLATIONS:**

**Кидай****зброю****!****: **Drop your weapons

**Хто****ви?****:** Who are you?

**Канада?****Це ти****?****:** Canada is that you?

**На****коліна****!****:** Down on your knees  
><strong>Руки<strong>**за****головою.**** :** Hands behind your head.  
><strong>Україна<strong>**? ****Україна****!** **Це****так****приємно****бачити****вас****знову.****Як****там****це****було?****Чому****ви****в****вашому****домі****братів****?****:** Ukraine? Ukraine! It's so good to see you again. How's it been? Why are you at your brother's house?  
><strong>Зараз<strong>**!****: **Now!

**Мене****звуть****Канаді.****Це****Гілберт.****Ми****втратили.****Будь ласка****, нам ****потрібна допомога.**** : **My name is Canada. This is Gilbert. We are lost. Please we need help**.**


	24. A call home

**Shinigami-cat: **Hey there people! So anyway I have a deviantart account and I'm posting pictures based on some of the fanfictions I've written. The link is on my profile page and if you want me to draw something just leave a message on my deviantart account. Next chapter… I OWN NOTHING!

**A call home**

After trekking through the snow for half an hour the base camp came into view. It was a small settlement, consisting of maybe twenty tents. They dumped the Grabbers in front of a tent where a man was sitting outside sharpening a knife. He looked at them with his one good eye and grunted to acknowledge them. Ukraine nodded and turned to Gilbert and Canada. "Come with me. You can rest up in my tent and tell me how you got here."

They walked over to Ukraine's tent and Gilbert frowned. It was a tiny little thing made from a grey leather material, constructed to look like an Indian tepee. It didn't look like it could fit one person in there comfortably, let alone three people. But Ukraine just smiled and opened the tent flap and walked inside. Canada quickly followed. Gilbert couldn't believe that the thing was still standing.

Canada looked out at Gilbert and frowned. "Are you coming in here or are you going to freeze out there?"

Gilbert frowned and walked inside the tent. His jaw dropped. The ceiling was a huge yellow and gold canopy, weapons were sitting in their protective cases on one side with all the other important equipment like bags and bottles of elixirs, the place was split in two by a light blue sheet. "The hell? What is this Doctor Who? Why is it bigger on the inside?"

Canada and Ukraine looked at Gilbert then to each other and giggled. "Why are you so shocked?" Asked Canada. "I used the same thing back at the shop to make all those hallways."

Gilbert nodded and walked inside. It was unusual, but welcoming really. Ukraine walked behind the blue sheet and came back with three large pillows. She gave one to each of them and sat down on one herself. When Canada and Gilbert were both seated she began to talk. "So how come you are here?"

Canada shrugged. "I think it's more important to ask why you're here. I mean this is your brother's house. Where is he?"

Ukraine frowned and looked down at her feet. "A few weeks ago… Hunter attacked the town where my brother was trying to lay low for a while. He took Russia."

Canada's jaw dropped. "He took him? As in… back to the Bird Cage?"

Ukraine nodded. "Yes."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "The Bird Cage?"

"Hunter's fortress." Said Ukraine sadly. "It's an island castle hidden in the clouds. Nothing leaves there unless he wants it to leave… and when it does leave it's thrown from the very edge down to the earth below."

"So he's finally got that place up and running…" Muttered Canada darkly. "At this rate the whole world will become a dead zone."

"It is." Muttered Ukraine. "The whole world is officially a dead zone."

"WHAT?" Cried Gilbert and Canada in unison.

"The world can't be a dead zone!" Said Canada. "That's impossible!"

Ukraine shrugged sadly and sighed. "I know it's hard to except but it's true. Every country has been taken over… Hunter has won."

Canada growled, his eyes turning dark. "He can't have won… There's no way…"

"But it's true." Said Ukraine. "Hunter has taken over every country in the world. The people he hasn't captured are like the ones you see out there." She gestured towards the front of the tent. "We survive on the best terms we can. We travel from country to country taking things from towns. Avoiding Plagues when we can… Barely living really."

Gilbert frowned. "But there has to be someone doing something."

Ukraine nodded happily. "You're right. Back at England's house a resistance is being built. People from all over the world are trying to get there but it is dangerous."

Canada breathed a sigh of relief. "That sounds like England… He would rather die than let someone take over."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "So where are we heading there I'm assuming?"

Canada thought for a second and nodded. "Yeah but once we've rested up for a few days… If that's okay with you Ukraine."

Ukraine nodded. "Sure. In fact I insist that you two stay. I can equip you with everything you two need for your journey." Gilbert was about to say soothing when a man opened the tent door. He was carrying a tray that had three bowls of soup on it. Ukraine smiled at him and waved him over. The man nodded and placed to bowls down. One in front of each person before he bowed and left.

Canada raised an eyebrow. "They show you a lot of respect, don't they?"

Ukraine nodded and picked up her bowl. "Of course they do. I'm their leader." She reached opened one of the pouches on her belt and pulled out a couple of spoons. She handed one to Canada and one to Gilbert.

Canada chuckled to himself and ate some of the soup. "It's hard to imagine you leading a large group of people. No offence but you don't seem like the leader type… Belarus on the other hand."

Ukraine chuckled and sighed. "Yeah… But war changes people. I've had to order the execution of several people because they were bitten by Plagues." Canada and Gilbert looked at Ukraine with wide eyes. Ukraine shrugged and sipped some of her soup. "War changes people. We have no cure for them so we have to kill them before they turn. Most people who get bitten ask to die. They understand that they will become a monster if they live so they would rather die… for the greater good."

Gilbert frowned and ate his soup. It was brown in colour, had little green flakes of some spice and chunks of meat were floating in the brown broth. Put a chunk of the meat in his mouth and chewed slowly. It tasted familiar… It was soft and tender, fell apart in his mouth, had a bit of fat that just melted on his tongue. It was the same meat that Canada cooked on the second day they were there… He looked over at Ukraine. "Hey… What animal is this?"

Ukraine frowned. "Don't you like it?"

Gilbert shook his head. "No I like it, it's just I have no idea what it is I'm eating."

Ukraine smiled. "Oh okay. Well it's just a bit of mixed spices, salt, pepper and Grabber meat."

Gilbert's eyes went wide. "What meat?"

"Grabber." Said Ukraine. She ate a chunk of the meat and swallowed it. "We kill Grabbers, drain their blood, cut it up and roast till the meat turns a dark brown. Not only is it nice to eat but Grabbers have a harder time picking up your sent."

Gilbert put his soup down and gagged. "I think I'm going to be sick…"

"That's why I didn't tell you what it was the first time." Said Canada. He lifted the bowl to his lips and drank the content quickly. "You know… once you get over knowing what it's made from its quite nice."

Ukraine nodded in agreement. "True… besides America makes a whole bunch of random food that most people wouldn't normally touch with a ten foot pole, but people still eat it."

"That's because it tastes good." Snapped Gilbert. "That and people generally know what's in them!"

Canada chuckled. "So you know what humectant is?"

"Huma what?"

"Exactly." Said Canada with a smirk. "Now come on and eat your soup. Ukraine's people have worked hard to make this. Don't be wasteful."

"It's okay Canada." Said Ukraine. "It's an acquired taste. Best meat on a Grabber though is its tongue. Surprisingly tender and soft."

Gilbert cringed at the thought, but Canada seemed very enthusiastic about the subject. "Agreed. But I really prefer the leg meat. There's more of it and you're fuller for longer."

"But the tongue has more flavour." Said Ukraine with a smile.

Gilbert cringed and shook his head. "Yeah… I'm going to have a look around outside for a bit…"

Ukraine put down her bowl and looked over at Gilbert. "I'm not sure if that's a good idea Gilbert. Most people here are sceptical of people with demon eyes."

Gilbert growled. "I'm albino."

Ukraine nodded. "I know that, but albino's are few and far between here. Demons are the ones that have red eyes… Most humans kill demons on sight and ask questions later. I'm thankful my men didn't decide to kill you as soon as they saw you."

Gilbert frowned. '_Everyone thinks I'm a fucking demon because of my eyes… It's so fucking stupid! I'm not a demon._'

"Oh yeah…" Muttered Canada. "I forgot all about that… I guess I should use a disguise spell or something…"

Gilbert frowned and stood up. "Yeah… I'm just going to see what's on the other side of this sheet."

"It's just a bed and a requirement closet." Said Ukraine. "But you are welcome to look."

Gilbert nodded and walked behind the blue sheet. There was a large mattress on the floor covered in fur covered pillows and thick sheets on the mattress. It wasn't the most beautiful thing he had ever seen but it was still nice to see a bed like that. In the corner of the room was a requirement closet decorated in a fancy way. Next to it was a mirror. He hadn't looked in one in weeks. Not even when he was at that house.

He walked over to it and had a good look at himself; his hair had bits of dirt and plant material in it, his clothes had a bit of mud on them and they were discoloured, he also had a few scratches and grazes on his hands and face. But that was to be expected after getting into a fight with a bunch of Grabbers.

He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. '_The whole world is a dead zone? What does that mean for me? Will Canada be able to help me get back home? I hope so… Crap I've been gone for so long… Do they think I'm dead?_' A shiver ran up his spine. He didn't want them to think that. He wanted them to know he was still alive. Suddenly his eyes lit up. '_Canada was able to talk to his Papa and he mentioned that he talked to America. Perhaps there is a way._'

He quickly ran back to where Ukraine and Canada were. "Canada!" He cried. "How were you able to talk to France if he lives in a parallel world?"

Canada shrugged. "Telepathic link. It's hard to keep a link going though. Across worlds it's possible to keep a link open for a few minutes. Why?"

Gilbert hesitated. "I need to call… I need to call Ludwig."

Canada sighed and shook his head. "Gilbert, a link is really energy draining. I can't make a link just for trivial things."

"Why are you being so mean?" Asked Ukraine with a pout. "Gilbert didn't ask to be here it was a mistake Canada. Your mistake. You should help him when and where you can. If Gilbert wants to open a link let him. Don't be selfish!"

Canada looked at Ukraine in shock for a moment but his features softened. "I get it… We'll need a vesicle though… Is there a cup we could use maybe? Any sort of container really."

Ukraine gave him an empty bowl and smiled. "This should do."

Canada nodded and took the bowl. He looked over at Gilbert and gestured of him to sit down. Gilbert frowned but sat down in front of Canada. "Okay." Said Canada. "When the bowl glows blue you need to put your hands on the bowl and concentrate on who you want to talk to."

Gilbert nodded and waited. Canada smiled, placed the bowl in front of himself and closed his eyes. He started to chant something in a low voice, almost growling it out, clipping off the last syllable of every word and phrase. His words sounded old and menacing. The temperature of the room slowly started to drop and the steam of his breath floated out of his mouth like smoke. Suddenly his eyes snapped open; they were glowing white.

Gilbert gulped and looked over at Ukraine. She smiled at him and pointed to the bowl. "You can talk to him now."

Gilbert gulped and cautiously touched the bowl. It was like a rush. It felt like he was being pulled from where he was sitting but at the same time he was still there back in Ukraine's tent. He blinked a few times to try and clear his vision. It was a little blurred but he was good. He could hear something ringing in his ears. Like he was waiting for someone to pick up a phone.

Suddenly his heart felt as though it had stopped beating when he heard a familiar voice. "**Belischmidt residence. Ludwig speaking.**"

"WEST!" Cried Gilbert.

"**Gilbert? Oh god Gilbert you're alive!**" Cried Ludwig. Emotions that were usually vacant from the blond's voice were now filling them. "**Where are you? What happened? Everyone thinks you're dead!**"

Gilbert chuckled and smiled slightly. "Hey chill West. Freaking out is so unawesome. Anyway you don't need to worry about me I'm all right… You wouldn't believe me but… I'm in Russia."

"**RUSSIA? HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET THERE?**"

"Long story." Said Gilbert. "Anyway I don't know how long I can keep talking so I'll just be quick. Firstly I'm not dead. Secondly don't bother looking for me you won't find me. Tell Antonio, Francis and Grandpa I'm alive… A little battered, bruised and scared shitless, but I'm fine."

"**Battered? Bruised? Scared? What's happened to you? What's going on? Why can't I find you?**"

"Because I'm not in your world." Said Gilbert. "I'm in a parallel world. You wouldn't believe the things I've seen, and no I'm not on drugs." He could feel something pulling at the back of his head. Pulling him away from Ludwig's voice. "Crap… I have to go now West. I'll be home as soon as I can!"

"**What was that? You're braking up. I can't hear you!**"

"I'LL BE HOME SOON!" Yelled Gilbert. Suddenly he felt something equal to and arm pulled him backwards. His eyes came into focus and he gasped for breath.

Ukraine leaned over and pressed the back of her hand to his forehead. "Are you okay?"

Gilbert nodded. "Yeah…"

Ukraine nodded and looked over at Canada. "How about you?"

Canada yawned and rubbed his eyes. "That's the longest I've ever opened a link… I need to sleep or something…"

Ukraine nodded and helped Canada to his feet. "Of course." She led him over to the blue sheet and parted it so Canada could walk through.

Gilbert watched Ukraine lead Canada away and frowned. '_Did it really drain him that much?_'

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Yeah… please review.


	25. House call

**Shinigami-cat: **So yeah there are going to be a few OC's from now on. They don't really do much. They aren't that important, but they need to be in there for the story to progress… I OWN NOTHING!

**House call**

Gilbert was starting to worry about Canada. It wasn't that Canada was starting to rip things to shreds with his hands again. No, nothing like that. He was worried because ever since Canada had opened a link so he could talk to Ludwig, he had been asleep. Ukraine had said that it was normal to be exhausted after opening a link across worlds. But even she seemed to be concerned about Canada's unconscious state. She wanted to stay by his side to make sure he was alright, but she had other duties to perform as the leader of her 'tribe' so to speak. She mainly left that to Gilbert. Gilbert was okay with it too. He had experience dealing with sick people. Mainly Ludwig when he had gotten chicken pox when they were younger.

Ukraine slipped on her jacket and walked over to the front of the tent. "So do you have everything you need?" She asked Gilbert.

Gilbert nodded. "Yeah I got everything."

Ukraine smiled and turned to leave. "Good… Oh right I almost forgot!" She walked over to Gilbert and gave him small red bracelet. "I asked one of the doctors to come by and have a quick look over Canada. This bracelet acts like a translator. It will turn all language into one you can understand and vice versa."

Gilbert nodded and put on the bracelet. "Cool. Have a fun time or whatever… What are you doing anyway?"

"Finding a new base." Said Ukraine. "We try not to stay in one place for too long. Plagues and Grabbers can find us more easily that way." With that she walked out the tent leaving Gilbert alone with Canada.

Gilbert sighed and walked over to Canada; he was lying on a mattress Ukraine had gotten from her requirement closet, covered in a bear skin sheet. From afar Canada looked quite peaceful but if you got closer he looked anything but peaceful; he had dark circles under his eyes, his skin was covered in a thin film of sweat, he was taking in short shallow breaths through his mouth and every now and then he would twitch. Sometimes he would say things in his sleep, but he would with say it so quickly that no one could understand him or so softly no one could hear him. But that was a rare occasion.

Gilbert sat next to Canada and touched the blonde's forehead with the back of his hand. He didn't feel like he was burning up or freezing. It was odd. Gilbert sighed and wiped some of the sweat off Canada's forehead with a damp cloth. He could see Canada's eyes move slightly under his eyelids.

Gilbert bit his bottom lip. '_Crap… If I knew this would have happened I wouldn't have asked him to do that for me. But why did he do it when he knew this would happen to him? Is it because Ukraine told him to? Those two seem pretty close… Do they like each other? But before Canada said he wasn't straight… Maybe he's bisexual?_' Gilbert shrugged. It seemed possible. But she also just seemed to have this older sister vibe about her. Maybe it was that.

Gilbert shook his head and pulled one leg up to his chest and leaned against it. It was nice that they didn't have to run for their lives or find food to eat for a while, but he knew they needed to do it again eventually. After all they were going to go to England's house. They would have to leave Russia soon. But in Canada's current state they weren't going anywhere. He sighed. "I'm sorry Canada." He muttered. "I'm sorry for all the stupid things that have happened to you because of me."

The tent flap opened up and Gilbert turned to see a woman. She was an old woman, her brown, wire like hair was done up in a rough bun, her thick clothes were grey in colour and her eyes were a murky brown colour. She looked over at Gilbert and frowned. "What's a demon doing in here?" She hissed. "Get out of here now before I get someone in here to kill you."

Gilbert glared at her. "Okay first of all I'm albino you stupid cow. Second of all who the fuck are you?"

The woman looked at Gilbert with sceptical eyes. "Albino you say? Demon blood flows through your veins boy… From several generations back."

Gilbert chose to ignore the fact that the woman was acting like a moron. "Anyway… who are you?"

"Ukraine told me I had a patient to see." Said the woman. She looked over at Canada. "I assume that's him?"

Gilbert nodded and looked back at Canada. "Yeah… he hasn't woken up in about three to four days."

The woman nodded knowingly and walked over to Canada. She sat down next to him and pulled a few things out of her pocket; a little flash light, a stop watch, a magnifying glass, an exothermic thermometer and some paddle pop sticks in plastic wrapping. She grabbed Canada's wrist, picked up the stop watch and started it. "Eighty three beats per minute." She muttered.

"Is that bad?" Asked Gilbert. "Should his pulse be lower or higher Miss?"

"Nursey." Said the woman. "Call me Nursey, and no. His pulse rate is fine. But I must admit it is a little high for someone who is asleep… But then again he seems to be running a fever of some sort." Nursey picked up her flash light and pulled back one of Canada's eyes. She shone the light into his eye and nodded. "Pupil seems to be working fine…" She put the thermometer under Canada's arm pit and waited for a minute. Once the minute was up she checked the thermometer. "Core body temperature is alright…"

"Quick question Nursey… What the hell did his eye sight have to do with anything?" Asked Gilbert. It just seemed like a stupid thing to do.

Nursey glared at Gilbert. "Do you have any medical training? No? So shut up."

"No need to get pissy with me." Said Gilbert with a pout. "Are you going through menopause or something?"

Nursey pointed the thermometer at Gilbert in a threatening manner. "Another comment like that from you and I'll shove this thermometer up your ass."

Gilbert glared at Nursey. She didn't seem that strong but then again neither did the Grabbers. They seemed more gross than anything. Gilbert shrugged and held up his hands in defeat. "Yeah, yeah."

Nursey smirked at the albino and went back to examining Canada. She pulled a paddle pop stick out of the plastic covering and opened up Canada's mouth. She used the stick to hold down his tongue. She grabbed her flash light and shone it down his throat. "Normal pink colour… But there is something just a little deeper in his throat." She looked over at Gilbert. "Hold the flash light. For a second." Gilbert did as he was told and held the flash light while Nursey grabbed another paddle pop stick. While holding Canada's tongue down with one stick she the other to scrape the back of his throat. When she pulled it out there was a thick black residue on the end of it. "What the hell is this?"

Gilbert's eyes went wide. '_Canada's sickness._' He thought. '_What should I say? Should I tell her he's infected with Croatoa? Crap… I have no freaking idea…_'

Nursey looked at the black gunk on the end of the paddle pop stick and frowned. "I've seen something like this somewhere before… Back when my home was invaded by those things… But I can't remember…"

Gilbert shrugged. "Yeah well if you don't know what's wrong with him you can clear off you old bat."

Nursey collected her things and stood up. She glared at Gilbert with cold eyes. "You travel with him don't you?"

Gilbert glared back with just as much intensity. "Yeah so?"

"Maybe you should do something other than sit around waiting for him to get better." She snapped. "Ukraine told me you two were heading for England. There's no way you can do that while one of you is so severely handicapped!"

"He'll get better!" Snapped Gilbert.

"Canada isn't the handicapped one!" Hissed Nursey. "He can fight! He can survive! What can you do? Follow him like a dog, that's what! I bet when you get into trouble out there he is always there to save your sorry ass! Grow a set of balls and pick up a sword! Learn how to fight and stop being a burden to him!"

"You don't know what you're saying you bitch!" Snapped Gilbert furiously. Nursey had no right to say anything to him about Canada. She didn't know anything.

Nursey just laughed at him. "You are stupid aren't you? Canada is a selfless person unlike you! He would willingly get himself killed to save someone in danger! I hope you sleep easier knowing his blood will be on your hands! You demonic little brat!" With that Nursey flipped him the bird and stormed out of the tent.

Gilbert just sat there stunned. '_What the hell? Why did she call me selfish? What did I do? She doesn't know me!_' He looked back at Canada and frowned. It was true that Canada had saved him on more than one occasion, both here and in his world. He knew he couldn't fight, not like Canada, but was he really a burden? Perhaps or maybe Nursey was just being rude to him because he had demon eyes? He felt a small pang of guilt stab at his heart. He felt completely useless. '_All I do is get in the way… I can fight… I can't hunt… I'm just a handicap… I need to be stronger… I need to learn how to fight._'

He nodded at that thought. If he learnt how to fight he wouldn't be useless. He would be an asset. With that thought in mind he walked over to the requirement closet. He opened it up and looked inside. Of course there was nothing in there but dust. He stood back for a second and frowned. "How the hell did Canada do this? Just open it and say what you want right?" He clapped his hands and sighed. "Um… Manual on how to fight?"

Two seconds later he was hit in the face with a book called '_Basic fighting for dummies_'. Ludwig would be impressed. Gilbert rubbed his now throbbing nose and sat down next to Canada with the book on his lap. He was going to learn how to fight if it was the last thing he did. He would not be a burden.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

By the time Gilbert had finished reading the book his brain was hurting like crazy. He wasn't sure how much time had passed but Ukraine was back. She was currently sharpening some knives. She looked over at Gilbert and smiled half-heartedly. "So what did Nursey say?"

"She doesn't know." Muttered Gilbert. "She's a bitch anyway. Called me a demon on sight. Told me to get out of here. Stupid bitch."

Ukraine sighed and continued to sharpen her knives, occasionally holding it up to the light to inspect it. "Don't be so hard on her Gilbert. She just dislikes people with red eyes because of some horrible things that happened back at my house."

"What kinds of things?" Asked Gilbert.

Ukraine shrugged. "Well a while ago there was a large demon problem in my house. Lots of people were killed because of them. It was a horrible time. Luckily Russia was able to help me out and Belarus helped out too."

Gilbert nodded. Ukraine seemed to have good relationships with people. "So Russia's your brother right?"

Ukraine nodded. "Yeah… and Belarus is my sister." A pained expression spread over her face. "I hope they are still alive…" She looked over at Gilbert. "The last time I saw my little sister she was unconscious and bleeding heavily from her neck. I left her in the care of Lithuania… And Russia had a broken arm before he went into hiding..."

Gilbert nodded. "I know it isn't the same… but the last time I saw my brother was when I saw him at breakfast. I just nodded at him, letting him know I was going to school early to catch up with my friends… And then I talked to him…"

"I know." Said Ukraine. "It's pretty horrible… To not know that you might never see your loved ones again… But Canada is reliable. If he promised to send you home he will."

Gilbert nodded and looked over at Canada. He still didn't look any better. He bit his lip and looked over at Ukraine. "Teach me how to fight." He said.

Ukraine looked over at Gilbert and raised an eyebrow. "Pardon?"

"Teach me how to fight." Said Gilbert. "I want to know how to fight Plagues."

Ukraine shrugged and went back to her knives. "Why do you want to know how to fight? Canada can fight can't he?"

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Well of course he does. But I want to know how to fight so I'm not a burden… So I can defend myself… So I can defend Canada. He's always making sure I'm safe but he never looks after himself! He doesn't put himself first at all!" Gilbert clenched his fists and took in a deep breathe. "I want to be able to help out. I want to be able to hunt. I want to be able to defend myself and Canada if I have to."

Ukraine looked at Gilbert with a confused expression. Her eyes boring into his, searching for something. What it was exactly, Gilbert couldn't say. Suddenly she looked away. "You want to know how to fight to protect both yourself and Canada? That's very noble of you."

Gilbert blushed slightly and looked away. "Yeah well… I have to keep him alive don't I? He's the only one who can get me home damn it."

Ukraine chuckled slightly and nodded. "Of course Gilbert… Okay I'll teach you how to fight. But tomorrow. Its night now… I'll get Nursey to look after Canada tomorrow then." Gilbert didn't want that woman anywhere near Canada, but he had no say in the matter.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Gilbert was lying on his back looking up at the tent roof. Ukraine had gone to sleep ages ago but Gilbert couldn't seem to get to sleep. He pulled up the fur covers around his chin and rubbed it with the side of his face. It was really soft. He rolled onto his stomach and looked over at Canada, who was on the mattress a few feet away from him. He frowned and sighed. '_God damn it Canada. Wake up already. You're no use to anyone unconscious._' He really wanted Canada to wake up. He needed Canada to wake up. If Canada never woke up he was never getting home.

Through the silence a voice cut through it. It was so quiet you wouldn't notice it unless the whole place was dead quiet. Gilbert quickly sat up and glanced around the room. His eyes fell on Canada. His lips were moving quickly, as if he was speaking really quickly and a whisper escaped his lips.

Cautiously Gilbert crawled over to Canada and moved his head ear close to Canada's lips to hear what he was saying. What he heard he would forever remember. "Blood." Whispered Canada. "So much blood. Where is it coming from? Why are you doing this to me? Why are you doing it to them? The screams. The screams. The terrible screams. What's happening? How could you do this? I'm sorry. I can't save you. Fire. Burning. Everything's dying. Why is it dying? It hurts. The burning. It hurts. It hurts so much. Burning. Dead. Everyone's dead. This isn't paradise. This is hell. It hurts."

Gilbert moved away from Canada. He didn't want to hear anymore. Gilbert gulped. '_A nightmare._' He thought to himself. '_It's just a nightmare. Crap has he been like that this whole time?_' The thought sent shivers down his spine. Living out a personal hell inside his head for days on end. For his own sake, for his own sanity even, Canada needed to wake up. Gilbert clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. He felt even guiltier than before. He had personally sent Canada into that hell.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Hello! Yeah… Um… Review please?


	26. Awake

**Shinigami-cat: **Well… I OWN NOTHING!

**Awake**

Gilbert stood knee deep in snow, his hammer in hand. The wind whistled through the trees and a few flakes of snow fell from the sky. It was oddly calming, but he had to keep alert. There was a possibility of danger behind every tree. A twig snapped and he turned his head. Nothing was there. It never was.

But bit his bottom lip and took a cautious step forwards, his feet crunching in the snow. The flutter of thick clothes rustling through the air made him look up at the trees. There was nothing there. This was ridiculous. He didn't want to be out here freezing his ass off, being watched by something… Something dangerous.

He heard something running towards him. He turned just in time to see a dark figure looming over him before he was knocked to the ground. The wind was knocked out of him. He glared at the figure above him who had him pinned to the ground with their boot. The figure pulled a sword out from under their thick cloak and raised it high into the air. Brining it down with speed and force almost cutting off Gilbert's ear.

The figure pulled off their dark ski goggles and looked at Gilbert with disappointed eyes. "The point of this exercise is for you to dodge me Gilbert." Said Ukraine.

Gilbert glared at her. "Yeah well… screw you. I'm doing my best!"

Ukraine removed her boot from Gilbert's chest and frowned. "Obviously your best is not good enough. If I was a Plague or a Grabber or a thug you would be dead."

Gilbert sighed and sat up, dusting the snow out of his hair. "I know I'm useless. I'm not used to carrying around a hammer. I'm more of a lightsaber person."

Ukraine raised an eyebrow. "A lightsaber? I've never heard of something like that."

"It's like a sword." Said Gilbert. "It's about a meter long, but instead of the blade being made out of metal it's made from a laser."

Ukraine furrowed her brows trying to imagine what a lightsaber looked like. "Maybe a different weapon then?" She asked. "Do you think that would improve your performance?"

Gilbert shrugged. "Worth a shot." So Ukraine gave Gilbert her sword and Gilbert gave her his hammer. He held it and swung it around a little. He liked the feel of it. It was balanced and light, but at the same time he could tell it was heavy. He looked at Ukraine and frowned. "What if I end up stabbing you?"

"It's a dull blade." Said Ukraine. "As long as you don't try to stab me it will be fine." She turned and quickly disappeared back into the snow.

Gilbert frowned and started to walk through the snow again. Ukraine's training for teaching him how to fight consisted of teaching him how to react to being ambushed, how to defend himself, and finally how to fight. According to Ukraine he couldn't fight until he learnt how to defend, and he couldn't defend until he learnt how to react to being ambushed.

He heard something walking through the snow and paused for a second. More than likely it was Ukraine. He contemplated a way he could do this. He had once heard that blind people had to rely on their other senses to compensate for their lack of sight. He shrugged. "What do I have to lose?"

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a strip of cloth. He tied it around his eyes and waited for his senses to adjust. Without the distraction of sight his other senses were becoming heightened. He could feel the cold wind biting at the skin on his face and hands, he could smell the subtle hints of the forest and he could hear everything much clearer. It was weird really, but at the same time very cool.

He heard something slowly moving behind him. He froze and he tightened his grip on the sword. Suddenly the thing moved towards him at a rapid pace. Gilbert quickly side stepped and delivered a round house kick to the person's chest knocking them to the ground. He took off his blindfold and smirked. Ukraine was flat on her back stunned. Gilbert chuckled and helped her to her feet. "Better or worse?"

"Better." She said. "But not great. You have a weapon for a reason." She quickly swung the hammer at Gilbert's head, who easily blocked it with the sword and knocked it out of her hand.

He pointed the sword at her throat and smirked. "I think I just won."

Ukraine smiled and nodded. "Okay you win. You're a natural with the sword you know."

Gilbert smirked. "Yeah Canada said when we get a chance to find new weapons I should get a sword."

Ukraine smiled knowingly. "Of course he would say that… Anyway it's cold. Let's get back to base camp. See how Nursey is going with looking after Canada." Gilbert nodded and followed Ukraine. They weren't that far away from the camp, just a far enough away that they couldn't see it.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

As they approached the camp they noticed something wasn't right. People were running around frantically, gathering boxes and other large objects. Some men were shouting at each other and gathering weapons. Ukraine frowned and approached one of the men. "What's going on here? What are you doing?"

"We are under attack." Said the man.

"By what?" Asked Ukraine. "Grabbers? Plagues?"

The man shook his head. "I wish we were. We would be able to kill it. That friend of yours. He attacked Nursey and some weird smoke is leaking out of your tent."

Ukraine and Gilbert looked at each other with wide eyes. Ukraine quickly gave the man a bottle full of a green liquid. "Pour this in a line in front of the tent. He won't be able to escape if you do that. I'll be there soon. Where is Nursey?"

"Medic tent four." Said the man. Ukraine nodded and grabbed Gilbert's hand, dragging him over to the medic tent. Inside were a few people lying on mats with broken arms and legs. Nursey was up the back, a young girl had just finished putting bandages over half her face and was now was putting several stitches in the old woman's arm.

Ukraine ran to her side and knelt down next to her. "Nursey!" She cried. "What happened?"

Nursey looked up at Ukraine. She was a tough old woman who had seen some terrible things in her time. Her injuries wouldn't change that old bats attitude. "That bastard attacked me." She hissed. "I was checking his temperature again when his eyes snapped open. They were all blood shot and crazy looking. Don't really know what happened next, it all happened so fast. Jumped up and threw me across the other side of the room. When I landed half my face had been ripped off and there was a deep gash in my arm."

Gilbert looked at Nursey in disbelief. There was no way Canada would have done that. Ukraine on the other hand seemed to believe every word she was saying. "I see… I'll take care of it. Canada won't be a bother to anyone here again." She stood up and walked out of the tent.

Gilbert stood there for a few seconds stunned. Nursey chuckled darkly. "He's no different than the Plagues."

"Shut up. He is nothing like them." Hissed Gilbert as he ran out of the tent and followed Ukraine. When he caught up to her he grabbed her arm. "What did you mean back there? You don't believe here do you?"

Ukraine didn't look at Gilbert. She kept her eyes fixed straight ahead. "I have to believe her Gilbert. I have a duty to protect her and everyone here. If Canada attacked her he has to go."

"Hey it sounds like you're getting g rid of him for good." Said Gilbert with a worried voice.

"That's because I am." Said Ukraine.

Gilbert's eyes went wide and he started to panic. '_What? Is she going to kill him? She can't! She can't do that! There has to be some other explanation! Ukraine can't just kill Canada!_'

They approached the tent; the small structure was surrounded by boxes and planks of wood. People were standing around, some holding torches. The looked like they were about to set it on fire. Ukraine growled and marched over to the men. "What the heck do you think you are doing? Are you going to set fire to my tent?" The men jumped back at the sharp tone of her voice. "Whose idea was this? Answer me now or you're all as good as Grabber meat!"

One of the men stepped forwards. "We all kind of decided on it." He muttered. "We don't remember who suggested it but we all thought it was a good idea… Smoke him to death and all…"

Ukraine face palmed. "Smoke him to death? You can't smoke him to death! He's a damn country! You can't smoke him to death, it'll only make him angry! Move all this rubbish away from my tent right now!"

The men quickly did as she ordered and moved the stuff away. While they were doing that Gilbert quickly slunk into the tent; He could see blood splatter on the floor from where Nursey bled, the requirement closet was smashed to pieces, glass from the mirror was everywhere and torn up shreds of fabric, feathers, pillow stuffing and bed springs were everywhere. Gilbert gulped and took a step forwards accidently stepping on a piece of glass causing it to crack. Something shifted from behind the broken closet. Gilbert could only assume it was Canada.

"Canada?" He called. "Are you okay? I'm coming over okay?" He got no response so he walked forwards. Doing his best to step over the carnage in front of him.

He was about a meter away from the broken closet when Canada hissed at him. "Stay away."

Gilbert stopped. "Okay I won't come any closer… Canada you need to calm down. Ukraine is going to kill you if you don't." Canada didn't say anything. He just muttered things under his breath. Gilbert slowly walked closer. "Hey… Why did you attack Nursey? I know she's a bitch but did you really have to rip off her face? Even if she did deserve it." Canada said nothing. This frustrated Gilbert. "Last night I heard you talk in you sleep. _The burning. It hurts so much. Burning. Dead._ What were you talking about?"

"So much blood." Whispered Canada. "He slaughtered my people. He slaughtered his own people. He slaughtered everyone. He laughed and drank their blood like wine. He's sick."

Gilbert took a few more steps forward. He could see Canada curled up in the foetal position on the floor; his hair was a mess, his clothes were ripped, he was running his nails over his neck with one hand and holding a bloodied piece of glass in the other.

Gilbert's eyes went wide. He grabbed Canada and pulled him into a sitting position. Canada yelped in surprise but otherwise did nothing. Gilbert looked down at Canada's writs and gasped. They were covered in deep red cuts. From the glass no doubt. "You were cutting?"

Canada pulled his writs out of Gilbert's hands and wrapped them protectively around his body. "I… I needed to forget… But I can't forget… Pain stops it for a little while but… But it never goes away. The fire is still there… Burning me away. It hurts. It hurts so much." Tears began to fall down the Canadian's face. "I hate him so much. I hate him. I hate him. I hate him. I hate him. I hate him. I hate him."

Gilbert sighed. He kind of understood why Matthew lashed out at Nursey. He was obviously freaking out about his nightmare and attacked anything that was close at hand at the time because he was afraid that he would get hurt. He was just thankful Canada hadn't attacked him. He crouched down in front of Canada and wiped away some of his tears. "Hey Birdie… Just calm down. It's not awesome to do this to yourself."

Suddenly Ukraine walked into the tent and frowned. "I thought I would find you here Gilbert." She pulled a vile of purple potion out of her pocket. "Get out of my way now."

Gilbert glared at her. "So you're just going to kill him? Make him drink poison? It that it?"

Ukraine glared at Gilbert with cold eyes. "I have to go what's right for my people Gilbert. Canada is dangerous in this state. Completely unstable! He'll rip your throat out in a second if you give him a chance."

"Well I'm not moving!" Snapped Gilbert. He stood up and stood in front of Ukraine. "I won't let you kill him."

Ukraine just rolled her eyes, muttered something under her breath and waved her hand. Gilbert flew across the tent and landed on the ground with a thud. He groaned and struggled to get to his feet. Ukraine was standing over Canada holding the vile in her hand. She forced Canada's mouth open and poured the potion into his mouth and forced him to swallow. Canada gasped and coughed, before going limp and falling to the ground.

"YOU BITCH!" Screamed Gilbert. "YOU FUCKING KILLED HIM!"

"I didn't kill him." Said Ukraine calmly. "I saved his life."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Ukraine sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "I realized when Canada eventually woke up he might have an episode… so I gave him a potion that will block out the thoughts that made him do all this." She gestured to the whole interior of the tent.

"You make it sound like this has happened before." Muttered Gilbert.

"It has." Said Ukraine. Gilbert looked up at her with confused eyes. Ukraine sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. "Remember how I said Hunter took my brother? Well right near the beginning of this endless war Hunter took Canada. No one knows what Hunter did to him, but Canada was somehow able to escape. This could have been because the Bird Cage wasn't flying yet but still… Look the point is Hunter did something horrible to him and when America found him, Canada tried to rip out this throat with his hands."

Gilbert looked at Ukraine with wide eyes. "He what? Oh god… What did Hunter do to him?"

Ukraine shrugged. "Well no one knows but as far as we can tell from his ramblings Hunter tortured his people and killed them in front of him… He also had burn marks all over his body so we assume he was tortured… Probably raped too…"

Gilbert looked at Canada with wide eyes. '_So I was right… Hunter did rape him._' He could feel anger coursing through his veins. '_Bastard. He made Canada like this. How could he? Canada is… He's… awesome. I'll fucking kill that bastard if I ever meet him._'

Slowly Canada started to move. He groaned and sat up and rubbed the back of his head. "Maple… How long have I been out?" He looked around the room and gasped. "Did I do this?"

Ukraine nodded. "Yeah…" She helped him to his feet and sighed. "You're going to have to leave tonight. I'll give you what you need but you must go tonight."

Canada nodded and looked down at his arms. "Yeah… I get it… Thanks for everything… I'm sorry I wrecked your stuff…"

Ukraine smiled half-heartedly. "Yeah well… I hope you get to England's house safely."

Canada smiled and started to wrap his arms up with his torn hoodie. "Do you know if the train still runs?"

Ukraine shrugged. "Not sure. You would have to ask someone who knows the area really well."

Canada sighed. "Oh well…" He looked over at Gilbert and smiled slightly. "Well… Looks like we are heading off tonight."

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **That was painful to write… Please review!


	27. Crossroads

**Shinigami-cat:**So this will be my first chapter beta read by someone. May I introduce the awesome FMB. They shall be reading over my stuff from now on. Oh and there is snapped Canada in this chapter… I OWN NOTHING!

**Crossroads**

Ukraine supplied Canada and Gilbert with new clothes, and several different supplies. She gave them a bottomless bag that you could put anything in and it never got heavy. A bag of lighter beads that would instantly start a fire anywhere when it hit the ground, and a bag of instant bread; little loaves of bread about two centimeters in length that turned into regular loaves of bread when a drop of water is added to them. She was also able to supply them both with swords.

"Do you have everything?" she asked.

Canada nodded, "Yeah, we have everything. Ready to go, Gilbert?"

Gilbert nodded, but he honestly wasn't sure. After all, a few hours ago Canada was a nervous wreck and now he was acting like everything was fine. It was disturbing, really. Canada smiled, "Good. Can you wait outside for a second? I need to talk to Ukraine alone."

Gilbert shrugged and did as he was told. The night was cold and the snow was lightly falling from the sky. He frowned and shifted closer to the door. He was curious to hear what Canada was going to say to her.

"So where are you going?" asked Ukraine.

Canada paused for a second, "I think we'll try to go see Prussia."

Ukraine sighed sadly. "Canada…"

"I know I shouldn't." said Canada quickly, "I mean, considering everything that's happened, I shouldn't… But I want to see him."

Ukraine sighed, "Okay… But please don't do something stupid. You know there are lots of Plagues in Berlin." Gilbert could hear Ukraine hand something over to Canada, "If you need to find the train station."

"What's in the bag?" asked Canada.

"Six dead rabbits and a summoning box. Use them well."

A few seconds later Canada was outside with Gilbert. He smiled calmly as he swung the bag of dead rabbits over his shoulder, "Let's go."

Gilbert nodded, "Yeah…" He looked back at Ukraine's tent. In all likelihood, he would never see her again. He frowned and followed Canada into the darkness. They had to stay close together to make sure that they didn't get separated, but that wouldn't be difficult. The stench of death from the bag Canada was carrying was disgusting, but guaranteed Gilbert wouldn't lose him.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

After several hours of walking, Canada sighed, "What's wrong Gilbert? You haven't said anything since… Well you haven't said anything for a while."

Gilbert shrugged. "Well… You had an episode or something and you freaked out. You scared a lot of people." He didn't want to admit it, but Canada had scared him more during his episode then he had when Canada ripped that Plague to shreds back in the church.

Canada sighed sadly, keeping his head down as he walked, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about my episodes… They haven't happened for a few years, so I didn't think it was important." he shifted his arm causing the bag to jiggle and a noxious gas filled the air. It was like rotting meat. Heck, it was rotting meat, "It's just one of those things you bury deep inside and don't talk about. Eventually, if you don't talk about it for long enough, you just assume it doesn't exist anymore."

Gilbert shrugged, "Yeah, well… There's nothing else I should know about? You aren't going to start biting off bat heads and start talking backwards?" He really didn't want to deal with some demonic freak right now.

Canada just laughed, "No nothing like that… But then again…"

"What?"

"Well…"sighed Canada, "I know a lot of, um… let's say, unusual people… Demons, to be exact…"

Gilbert face palmed and sighed dramatically, "Fantastic. Demons. Will they want to eat me?"

"Some of them…" muttered Canada, "But you're albino, so they probably won't think about it. They respect people with red eyes because of an old superstition."

Gilbert sighed and stumbled through the snow, "Do I even want to know? Screw it, you'll just tell me anyway. Go ahead."

Canada shrugged, "Well, it's not that interesting. It's just that humans with red eyes are said to be the great grandchildren of demons, that's all."

"I hate your world and its superstitions." growled Gilbert. He had spent the majority of his adolescent life trying to convince people he wasn't a demon; he wasn't going to let this world and its superstitions undo all that. Soon, the trees began to clear and they found themselves walking along a snow covered road.

For the next few minutes they were quiet, until they came to a crossroad. They stopped and Gilbert looked around. '_Okay…go left, and we'll probably get killed by Plagues. Go right, we'll probably get eaten by Grabbers. Go forwards, and I bet someone's going to stab me._' He didn't seem to have a very positive view on anything.

Canada, on the other hand, beamed and opened up the bag with the dead rabbits. The stench was unbearable, but luckily Canada got what he needed and quickly closed it. He was holding a small wooden box, which he opened and had a quick look inside, "Coins, cat bones, plants of some kind and a photo. Good, we're all set."

"Set for what?" asked Gilbert curiously. Canada ignored him, walked into the middle of the crossroad, and started to dig a hole. Gilbert contemplated asking him what he was up to, but decided against it. He would find out what Canada was doing soon enough.

When Canada was satisfied with the depth of the hole, heburied the box and stepped back. His eyes darted around the trees, "Okay…Where are you?" he muttered.

"What are we waiting for?" asked Gilbert curiously.

"A crossroads demon." said Canada, "She should be here soon."

"And a crossroads demon is…?"

"Someone you don't want to mess with."

"Hello, Canada." called a seductively sweet and innocent voice. Gilbert turned and jumped. Slowly walking from behind a tree was a tall, slender woman with bright blue eyes, long and layered fire red hair, full, blood-coloured lips, paper white skin and a slutty black dress with matching stiletto heels. She smiled and slowly walked over to Canada, completely ignoring Gilbert's presence.

"It has been such a long time since you've come to see me…" She gently touched Canada's face and pressed her body against his, "Why has it taken you so long to see me again? I missed you."

A blush covered Canada's face and he pushed the woman away. "Alexia…"he muttered, "You know very well I don't dabble between species."

Alexia pouted playfully, "Damn, I thought for sure you would be like your Papa and indulge me for once."

Canada rolled his eyes, "Yeah… How have you been?"

"Terrible." said Alexia with a flick of her wrist in a bored manner, "Things sure have gone to hell since Hunter started making those Plagues."

"I can imagine." said Canada, "There aren't that many souls for you to collect if there aren't so many humans anymore."

Alexia rolled her eyes and looked towards Gilbert. A wicked smirk stretched across her face and she slowly walked towards him. "And who might this be? Something different… Something new…"

Gilbert took a step back from her. Whatever disease she had, he didn't want it. She pouted, "Aw, don't be afraid of me little one. I won't bite… Unless you like that sort of thing?"

"Back off, bitch." hissed Gilbert. He was really starting to hate this woman.

Alexia chuckled and gently caressed his face. "Don't be so rude, little one… I can grant you a wish if you want. Any wish you can think of. Just tell me what it is and I'll give it to you, no questions asked. It will be yours."

Gilbert quirked an eyebrow, "Anything?"

"But of course, little one." said Alexia happily, "All I ask is for you to give me your soul in ten years. Ten years is such a long time anyway… A life time for most, really… What do you say? I can even bring the dead to life."

Canada stepped forwards and pulled Alexia's hand away from Gilbert's face, "He's not going to make a deal with anyone, Alexia."

Alexia rolled her eyes and glared at Canada, "Well, why am I here? If I'm not taking someone's soul, why am I here?" Anger was present in her voice.

"I want information." said Canada calmly, "The kind of information only a creature like you knows."

Alexia growled darkly, "Information? You really called me here for information?"

"I'll make it worth your while." said Canada, "I promise you won't regret it."

Alexia licked her lips as a wicked fire danced behind her blue eyes, "Really?" she whispered into his ear, "Make it worth my while? How are you going to do that? Will it satisfy me in every way?"

The way this demon talked made Gilbert's blood curdle. She sounded like a really slutty Francis… or a really, really, really drunk Arthur. He didn't like the way she looked at Canada, either. She was too predatory for his liking.

Canada shrugged, his voice still calm, "It might, it might not. Depends on how good your information is."

"I take payment up front boy." she hissed. Canada simply shrugged and handed her the bag of dead rabbits. Alexia opened the bag and looked inside. Her eyes glowed with pure delight and a genuine smile danced across her face, "Okay, what do you want to know?"

Canada thought for a second, "How many humans are still alive?"

Alexia shrugged, "In each country, there are about two to three hundred left alive. Very few are not in farming camps." A grin stretched over her face, "The ones that are on the run are becoming desperate and making deals with us left, right and center."

Gilbert's eyes went wide. '_Two to three hundred per country? That's… Holy shit! That's… That's unbelievable!_'

Canada frowned, obviously not liking what he heard, "Okay, then… How about the Midnight Train? Does it still run or has it been derailed?"

"Oh, the train still runs," said Alexia happily, "as long as there is someone to pay the price, the train will always run for those who need it. Why might you need it?"

Canada smirked, "Sorry, lovely, but I can't say. If I do, what happens if you get caught by a group of Plagues and they demand to know where I'm going?"

"I'll just leave this meat suit and find another." she said with a wink. She giggled and looked over at Gilbert, "That little one, for example… His meat is fresh in this world. It screams delicious."

Canada grabbed her wrist and twisted it back. A glint of something dark and foreboding sparkled in his eyes, "If you even think about touching him again with that filthy body of yours, I swear, I'll trap you in that meat suit and torture you until you beg me to kill you."

Gilbert gulped. '_Oh crap, he's about to lose it! He's going to go crazy and kill someone! I hope he kills her and not me. I don't like her._'

Alexia simply laughed and pulled her arm out of Canada's grip, "Yeah right. You're a soft boy. You're merely a newborn in this big bad world. What can you do to me that I can't do to you one million times worse?"

Canada chuckled darkly and shoved Alexia against a tree. As soon as she slid to the ground, he grabbed her by the throat and held her high in the air, "I've changed since I've last been here."

Alexia coughed and clawed at Canada's hand, "I can see that." she spluttered.

Although Gilbert would never admit it, he was becoming increasingly afraid of Canada and his sudden mood swings. He was starting to think it would be safer to travel with Alfred or a rapist, "Um… maybe you should let her go?"

Canada glared at Gilbert, but dropped Alexia anyway. She gasped for air and smirked, "Yes… I can see it in your eyes. You used to be such a happy little boy. Always smiling and leaving pancakes out for us on your doorstep. What happened?"

Canada just glared at her, "Where is the closest station?"

Alexia frowned and pointed at the road to her left, "Take that road. It's just beyond the Hanging Tree."

"The Hanging Tree?" questioned Gilbert only to regret asking that question immediately after.

Alexia smiled sweetly, "The Hanging Tree… It's where the last humans of this area sacrificed their young to the Plagues as a bargaining chip. Needless to say, the Plagues consumed the dead youth then took the leftovers to their farming camps."

Canada nodded, "Thank you, Alexia. I'll see you later." He turned to Gilbert, "Okay, let's go." He started to walk down the road Alexia had told them to follow.

Gilbert just stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do. Alexia sighed and dusted the snow off her dress, "Relax, little one. Canada isn't going to kill you. Heck, the kid listens to you. He probably would have killed me if you didn't tell him to let me go."

Gilbert shrugged, "Yeah, well… I can't really trust him anymore. He's keeping secrets from me."

Alexia shrugged and jumped to her feet, picking up her bag of rabbits, "Well, some things are meant to stay a secret… Now you better catch up with him before he tears me a new one." With her bag of dead rabbits she slinked off into the night.

Gilbert shivered and quickly followed Canada. When he caught up to him, he noticed he was muttering something under his breath. Gilbert frowned, "What was all that about? That's not like you."

Canada shrugged, "War changes people. Besides, I don't like demons. Even though not all of them are evil creatures that want people dead, I hate them." he gritted his teeth and clenched his fists and his words coming out as a growl, "Bunch of hosers. They can go and get slaughtered for all I care. They can go die in a hole, all bloodied and screaming."

Gilbert bit his bottom lip and frowned, "You don't really mean that, do you Canada? Are you just acting like this because of Hunter?"

Canada stopped dead in his tracks and spun around to face Gilbert. His eyes were dark, almost black and it honestly scared Gilbert. Canada grabbed Gilbert by the front of his shirt, "Don't you even think of mentioning that bastard in front of me again!" he spat, his grip on Gilbert's shoulders tightening, "To me and everyone here, that bastard is the equivalent of a million Hitlers and Saddam Husseins combined. You won't think of that monster, you won't make references of that monster, and you sure as hell won't talk about that monster. Do I make myself clear?"

Gilbert looked up at Canada with terrified eyes and nodded, "Yes, Canada."

Canada let Gilbert go and adjusted the sleeves of his jacket, "Good. Let's keep going, I want to get to the train station already."

Gilbert nodded and kept following Canada. He was mildly curious about the train station, but thought better of it. '_I'm traveling with a psycho. He's going to kill me in my sleep, I just know it._'

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat:***falls over and dies* Gah! I hate making Gilbert so freaked out… and I don't like it when Canada isn't nice… So… Reviews please?


	28. The Midnight Train

Shinigami-cat: I have a new poll on my page. It's not that I'm wrapping this up anytime soon or anything. I just want an idea about what you guys think. It'll be open until I finish Maple & Birds… I OWN NOTHING!

The Midnight Train

An owl glared at Gilbert with its wide eyes, and a cold wind swept through the trees. The snow stung when it hit his skin, like little shards of glass in the air. He hated it. Snow among many things held a horrible sense of dread and foreboding. As they walked along Canada looked to his left and stared at a shadowy tree for a second.

Gilbert took a moment to also look at the tree; strips of bark were hanging off it and jagged rocks, pointing up at odd ankles at the bottom. Canada noticed Gilbert's curiosity and sighed sadly. "The Hanging tree." Gilbert frowned and took a closer look at the tree. What he assumed was bark was actually rope, and the rocks were bones. Gilbert was glad it was night so he couldn't see it properly.

They continued to walk through the snow. A few meters ahead they came across a brick fence. It came up to Gilbert's head in height and was about as large as a football field, it was cracking in places but it was still sturdy. '_Wonder what's in there?_' Thought Gilbert.

He didn't have to wait long to find the answer. There was a huge iron gate, rusted red from the weather. Canada easily pushed the gates open and walked inside. They had walking into a graveyard. The tombstones were cracked and decaying. Up the back were a few fancier tombstones near the back wall shaped like angels.

Canada walked up to a tombstone near the far right of the graveyard and crouched down. The tombstone itself was covered in dead weeds and had a kind of fungus growing off it. Canada pulled the weeds away from it to revile the Russian underneath. "What does it say?" Asked Gilbert.

Canada shrugged and ran his fingers across the inscription. "Once were many now are few. Two score, one score set us free. Four score, three score let us be. Music sets the heart on fire. Poke the flame, inspire desire. For service play the flute."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Canada shrugged. "Just means we have to find a flute and play it. Simple as that."

"I don't get it." Said Gilbert. "Why do we need to do that? Why are we in a graveyard? I thought we needed to find a train station or something?"

Canada shrugged and stood up. "We are at the train station. This graveyard is the train station." Gilbert frowned and looked around. There was no train track, ticket booth or anything to indicate that they were at a train station. Canada chuckled at Gilbert bemused expression. "It's a secret train station. No one uses it except for demons, magical creatures and countries."

"That's pretty cool." Said Gilbert. "It's like your own personal train."

"Apart from the magical creatures and demons." Said Canada. He looked over at the angel statues at the very back of the graveyard. "Now… I wonder which one has a flute." He walked over to said angel statues and started to look around. "I'll start on this side you look on the other." Gilbert shrugged and walked over to the other side of the graveyard. He wasn't sure why they needed to find a flute. It was probably some kind of magical thing. He wouldn't have been surprised if it was.

He looked up at the statues and frowned. Most of them were half naked women holding harps, birds and flowers. Not a single flute among them. Perhaps Canada was having better luck. He leaned against tombstone and sighed. "A flute… Damn it why would we need to find a stone statue with a flute? It's not like we could even play it if we even found it. It's made of stone."

He leaned back and bumped his head against a statue. Gilbert groaned and rubbed the back of his head. He turned and had a look at the statue. He was looking at the back of a stone angel; she was holding violin bow behind her back. Gilbert's eyes went wide. '_I've only been looking at the front of the statues… I never even thought about looking behind them._'

He grinned and quickly ran behind a row of angels and looked at them. Several of them were leaning against flat rocks or mounds made to look like clouds or flowers. But behind one of the angels was a crouching cupid holding a little flute to his lips.

Gilbert grinned at how awesome he was, but now that he had found it, what was he supposed to do? Gilbert frowned. "Well… Canada said we needed to find the flute and play it…" He leaned forward so that his lips ere almost touching the stone flute and gently blew across the top. A haunting note rattled reverberated around the four stone walls.

A few seconds later Canada was standing next to Gilbert. He looked at the little cupid figure and frowned. "So this is where the signal was hiding…" He looked over at Gilbert and smiled slightly. "Okay let's head back to the gate. The train should be here soon."

Gilbert sighed and just followed Canada. '_Trains can't run without train tracks… Screw it, I bet it's a magic train. That runs on magic. That makes tracks magically appear in front of it as it moves… I feel like I'm living in a badly written teen fiction._'

They exited the graveyard and leaned against the brick wall in silence. A thick fog was starting to roll in. Against his better judgement Gilbert stood close to Matthew. He realized that there were things out there that he wouldn't be able to defend himself against and he would need Canada to help him. Anything could be living in that fog.

Gilbert looked down the road and saw something glowing in the distance. It was so small he couldn't really tell if they were really there or not, but soon the light got larger and brighter. He looked at Canada to see what he thought about the light. Canada was just calmly standing there smiling at the light as it drew closer and closer. The scream of metal against metal cut through the air as the speeding object came to a grinding stop. The hiss of the pistons indicated that the object had come to a halt.

This was the Midnight Train; a gaudy skull adorned the front of the train, its jaws opened to hold the light, a sliver chimney modestly placed behind the skull puffed light grey smoke, the coal train was pure black and sleek black carriages accented with fine silver trim completed the train's elegant look.

"Awesome." Whispered Gilbert.

A skeleton in a tattered conductor's suit stepped out of one of the carriages and walked over towards the duo. Instinctively Gilbert shifted slightly behind Canada. It wasn't as though he was afraid or anything. He just didn't know how to kill a skeleton because he had the mind set of '_If it can bleed you can kill it_'.

But Canada made no such move. Instead he walked towards the skeleton and smiled. "Two tickets to Berlin please." The skeleton nodded, his loose teeth rattling in his skull. It tilted its head slightly and looked past Canada at Gilbert. Canada coughed uncomfortably. "Um… I'm paying for his ticket to."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. Ukraine hadn't given them any money so he had no idea how they could pay for it. The skeleton nodded and held out its hand. Canada pulled his sleeve up and sunk his teeth into his wrist until he bled. He held his writs over the skeletons palm and let several drops fall into its bones, colouring them red.

When enough blood had collected on the bones the skeleton pulled two emerald tickets out of its tattered front pocket. The tickets indicated their destination, which carriage they would stay in and the approximate time they would get there. Canada quickly pocketed the tickets and looked over at Gilbert. "Come on then."

Gilbert nodded and quickly followed Canada onto the second carriage. The interior was amazing; red velvet carpet lined the floors, oak panels lined the hallways and golden candles eliminated them. All in all it gave the whole place an inviting, homey feel. It was relaxing. He followed Canada into a room; it was small but had two beds, two seats, a closet, a small table and a little window.

Gilbert sighed and flopped down onto one of the beds. It felt nice to relax a little. Even if the bed linen smelt like moth balls. He looked over at Canada, who was sitting by the window. "So… We're going to Berlin?"

Canada nodded. "Yeah… I want to see Prussia. I haven't seen him in years."

Gilbert's eyes lit up with excitement. "Awesome! I'll finally get to meet him!"

Canada smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Yeah… I'm sure he'll be interested to see you too."

Gilbert smiled happily and tapped his fingers against his chest. "Berlin… I wonder how different it is from the Berlin in my world."

"It's crawling with Plagues." Deadpanned Canada. "And most of the buildings have been destroyed."

"And now I'm less excited to see Berlin." Muttered Gilbert.

Canada shrugged and walked over to his bed, taking off his boots. "Well we're going to be here a while. May as well get some sleep." Gilbert nodded and kicked off his shoes before crawling under the covers.

XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX

The jaunt and jolt of the train slowly brought Gilbert out of his sleep. Hey yawned and slowly sat up. Light was pouring through the window. He looked around the small room and frowned. Canada was gone. He wasn't sure if he should be worried or not. He quickly put on his shoes and walked over to the window. What he saw shocked him; sand and tall grass, zebras and lions. The train was now in Africa.

Rather than question how it was even possible he opened the window and enjoyed the view. Hot air billowed through the room. Gilbert sighed contently. It was nice to feel hot air against his sink instead of the bitter sting of snow.

After a while he closed the window. "May as well try to find Canada." With that thought in mind he opened the door and was face to face with a bunch of coloured lights; they hovered and zipped around his head like flies before quickly moving away. One of the lights, a green one, flew right up to Gilbert's nose and just stayed there. Gilbert squinted at the light and was surprised to see it was a little naked woman with wings fluttering in front of him. It was a fairy.

He blushed a little at the fairy's naked body, after all he had been brought up on Disney movies and in all of them fairies had clothes. Suddenly the fairies zoomed down the hall and disappeared. "Well… That was… Odd…" Said Gilbert. He slowly walked to the next room and knocked on the door. After a few seconds a Japanese woman wearing a fox mask opened the door. Gilbert smiled nervously. "Um… hi there. I'm looking for my friend. He's got blond hair, violet eyes, has a random hair curl and is pretty quiet. Have you seen him?"

The Japanese woman shook her head and closed the door. Gilbert just looked at the door for a second before slowly turning around. '_Maybe I should go back to bed… I'm obviously way too tired to be up. Hell I might even be on drugs… When I get home I'm checking myself into a mental hospital or something…_'

Suddenly two little ghost girls ran down the hall laughing like crazy. Instinctively Gilbert moved out of the way to let them pass but ended up tripping over his own two feet and smashed his chin into the floor. "Ouch…"

"What are you doing down there Gilbert?" Asked Canada.

Gilbert looked up at Canada; he was carrying a sliver plater, on it were two stacks of pancakes and a jug of orange juice. Gilbert narrowed his eyes and growled. "Making a cake, care to join me? Where the hell were you?"

"I went to the dining cart." Said Canada. He stepped over Gilbert and opened the door to their room with one hand. "So do you want breakfast or not?"

Gilbert sighed and stood up. "You could have left a note."

Canada rolled his eyes and put the food on the table. "With what paper Gilbert? Besides I thought you would still be asleep." He grabbed a stack of pancakes and started to eat. He looked out the window and smiled. "Oh look, Africa."

Gilbert sat across from Canada and grabbed his pancakes. "Yeah I noticed. Why are we in Africa?"

Canada shrugged and chewed some of his pancake. "Well the Midnight Train only runs for those who can pay the price… So I guess someone out here needs it. Makes a nice change from snow doesn't it?"

Gilbert nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Anyway I ran into some fairies out there."

"What colour?" Asked Canada. "Red, green, yellow, blue, purple, pink?"

"Malty-coloured."

"Probably a whole different assortment then." Said Canada. "Most of the green ones live in forests and the blue ones live near water. A lot of the coloured ones hang out around flower fields. Yellow ones usually stay in desert areas, unless they are light fairies. They usually drift around in dark places offering people they like a light to guide their way." He took a sip of orange juice and thought for a moment. "But light fairies usually emit a white light and can be confused with spirit lights."

Gilbert frowned. "Spirit lights? What are they?"

Canada shrugged. "When a person is in a coma their spirit can leave the body. They emit white light too, but don't interact with anyone at all, like light fairies would."

Gilbert shrugged and ate his pancakes. "So when are we getting to Berlin? Africa seems like a major detour."

Canada pulled out their tickets and looked over them. "Well it says that we'll be there in twenty four hours. So we have about sixteen hours until we get there."

Gilbert sighed dramatically. "Sixteen hours? What am I meant to do for sixteen hours?"

Canada shrugged. "Why don't you have a look around? The dining cart is the one back there. Just don't bother anyone. There are a lot of ghosts and demons and magical creatures on this train."

XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX

The dining cart had a very different décor from the carriages; oak panels painted black, a sleek bar filled with expensive cups and bottles of wine and beer was pressed up against the side, black velvet carpet on the floor and small silver tables and chairs were dotted throughout the dining cart.

Gilbert was sitting at one of these tables watching people come and go. So far he had seen several ghosts, fairies, animal hybrids and some creatures he didn't even know of. He looked over at the bar and smirked at the fairies passed out by a bowl of cream. It was like tequila to them.

A little blue fairy stumbled off the bar and fell to the floor. A buy with dark chocolate brown hair and goat legs picked up the fairy and put it back with its friends. He looked over at Gilbert and quickly pulled a note pad and a pen out from his shirt pocket and walked over to him. "Do you want something sir?" he bleated.

Gilbert shrugged. "Well… Not really. I'm just people… demon… creature watching… Yeah…"

The goat boy giggled. "I'll take it that it's your first time on the Midnight Train?"

Gilbert smirked. "Is it that obvious?"

"Painfully so." Said the goat boy. "Um I don't mean to be rude but are you a demon?"

Gilbert frowned and shook his head. "No. I'm human. I'm just albino."

The goat boy nodded and extended his hand. "Well I'm a Faun. My name is Capricornus. But most people call me Corn."

Gilbert shook his hand. "Cool. Well I'm Gilbert. Do you work here?"

Corn nodded happily. "Yeah, I've been riding the rails for almost seven hundred years now! It's so much fun seeing all the people come and go."

Gilbert was shocked to say the least. Corn looked about fifteen. "Wow seven hundred years… You age pretty well."

Corn giggled and shook his head. "Oh stop it. You're just saying that because you're human. I look terrible for a Faun! I mean come on my hair is too silky and I have no hair growing on the back of my hands yet. Heck I don't even have a beard yet!"

Gilbert shrugged and leaned back in his chair. "So… why did you start working here?"

Corn shrugged. "I wanted to get away from Pan. He's like the leader of our tribe and he's pretty crazy. Why might you be here?"

"My friend and I are heading to Berlin." Said Gilbert.

Corn's eyes went wide in pure horror. "Berlin? No, no, no! You can't go to Berlin! That's suicide! Everyone who has gone there has ended up dead and everywhere! As in on the walls, floor, roof and anywhere else!" He looked over his shoulder briefly then leaned in close to Gilbert. "They say Hunter has black listed that place. As in anyone who goes in there will die. B-Plagues and G-Plagues patrol that place twenty four hours a day!"

Gilbert's eyes went wide. Canada hadn't told him that. "Why so many?"

Corn shrugged. "I have no idea… But I have heard rumours."

Gilbert leaned forward. "I'm listening."

"It's rumoured that Berlin is a prison." Whispered Corn. "A prison for a very dangerous person. Probably a demon. Many of us think that Hunter black listed it because whoever he has imprisoned in there has the power to stop him."

Gilbert's eyes went wide. '_Didn't Canada want us to go to Berlin to see Prussia? Holy crap we're going to bust Prussia out of Berlin! Never thought I'd use that phrase before._'

"But it's just a rumour." Said Corn. He pressed his pen to his note pad and smiled happily. "So do you want a drink or something? Hot chocolate perhaps? Lemonade? Cordial? Water? It's on the house."

"Um… lemonade please." Said Gilbert.

Corn nodded and quickly jotted it down. "Okay I'll be back with your order in a tick." Corn quickly turned on his heels and skipped over to the bar to get Gilbert his drink.

When Corn was gone Gilbert sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. '_Holy crap. We can't really be going to Berlin to break Prussia out are we? Okay I admit it sounds awesome, but I just know I'm going to get killed!_' Corn quickly came back and placed the drink in front of Gilbert before going to serve a Troll at the bar.

TBC

Shinigami-cat: Yay! Rumours are fun! Please review!


	29. Sewer rats

**Shinigami-cat: **Okay people! New chapter time… I OWN NOTHING!

**Sewer rats**

It was twenty minutes until they were to arrive at Berlin, and Gilbert was nervous to say the least. He didn't want to bring up the rumour in case he upset Canada again. At the moment he was sitting on his bed the room with his knees pressed up against his chest. His stomach was doing flips. '_This is going to be dangerous… Very dangerous… Oh man this is scary… But I'm too awesome to be afraid._' He looked over at Canada, he was looking out the window softly singing that creepy poem again.

"Bad little bird stay in your cage. Watch all your friends die away, because soon you will be next, choking on your blood and fears." He swayed slightly as he spoke. "If I find you have escaped me I will have to tear off your wings. So don't fly away my beloved little bird and just drown in your tears." Once he had finished singing he looked over at Gilbert. "Are you ready to go? Haven't left anything behind?"

Gilbert shook his head. "No I have everything… So… I've heard that Berlin is pretty dangerous."

Canada shrugged and looked back out the window. "It's not that bad. A few B-Plagues and G-Plagues here and there, but nothing that dangerous."

"You said they are guards and the soldiers." Said Gilbert. "Doesn't that mean they are dangerous? Well more dangerous than the W-Plagues?"

Canada contemplated this for a while. "I guess… Perhaps we'll try getting in the back way." Gilbert didn't want to know what the back way was. He just frowned and rested his chin on his knees. He wanted to meet Prussia, but he wasn't sure about the whole running into Plague infested Berlin to do it. Canada sighed. "What's up Gilbert? You've been really quiet."

Gilbert shrugged. "Nothing… Just worried about the Plagues I guess."

Canada walked over to Gilbert and sat next to him. He put his hand on Gilbert's shoulder and smiled. "Hey don't worry. I'll make sure we get in and get out safely. I know Berlin like the back of my hand." Even with Canada's reassurance he didn't feel any better. Canada seemed to sense his unease. He sighed and brushed some hair out of Gilbert's eyes. "If you're that worried about going to Berlin we can just go to England's house. I can always try and see Prussia later. It's not like he's going anywhere."

Gilbert shook his head. "No. You want to see him and… And I want to meet him. I mean I'm one of his people right?"

Canada smiled, but his eyes seemed to be swimming in guilt. "Yeah, you are one of his people. He'll be happy to see a new face." The sound of metal screaming and pistons hissing indicated that the train was coming to a halt. Canada sighed and stood up. "Well let's get going."

Gilbert nodded and followed Canada off the train. They were outside a graveyard in the German countryside. With a hiss and the groan of metal gears the train started up again and vanished in a puff of grey smoke. Gilbert looked around and frowned; nothing but grass and trees for miles around. "Which way to Berlin?"

"I have no idea." Said Canada.

"How can you not know?" Asked Gilbert. "I thought you said you knew Berlin like the back of your hand?"

"Yes Berlin." Said Canada. "But this is the German countryside. I have no idea where we are." Canada looked down at the road and started to walk down it.

"Where are you going?" Asked Gilbert.

Canada shrugged. "I have no idea. But it'll be an adventure." Gilbert couldn't argue with that. He reluctantly followed Canada down the road.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

As it turns out Canada seemed to have chosen the right road to travel on because they happened to see a street sight, pointing them in the direction of Berlin. The further along the road they went the more urbanized things became. Off in the distance they could see a thick, black cloud billowing up into the sky. Canada immediately tensed and gulped.

"What's wrong?" Asked Gilbert.

Canada shivered. "Um… What's wrong is also what's right." He looked over at Gilbert with sorrowful eyes. "If we want to get into Berlin undetected we need to travel through the sewers, but the only sewer I know that will lead directly to Berlin goes right under a H farm."

Gilbert bit his bottom lip and nodded. H farms seemed to be a really horrible topic for Canada. If there was another way into Berlin Canada would have found it. He would have avoided H farms at all costs. They must have been horrible places. After a few more meters Canada diverted off into the trees and Gilbert followed.

As they walked through the trees they started to hear industrial noises; the grinding of gears, the hiss of steam, the buzz of electricity, the clink of metal and most importantly, the chatter of humans. Gilbert looked over at Canada to see how he was reacting to the noise and gulped. Canada looked like he was going to be sick.

They came to a small hill and Canada dropped to his knees and gestured for Gilbert to do the same. Once Gilbert was on his stomach Canada commando crawled up the hill and peeked over the top. Gilbert did the same and was shocked at what he saw; a large grey building with no windows and one door, two smoke stacks crudely stuck on top of the building billowed thick black smoke, around the building were what looked like shacks, a high four meter fence surrounded the place. If he looked closer he could just make out the shapes of people walking around the shacks and large, well armoured people patrolling the area.

"Is this a H farm?" He whispered.

Canada sighed sadly. "H farms… Human farms… Farming camps… They are all the same horrific thing."

"What do they do here?" Asked Gilbert. Canada couldn't hold back the truth now. Whatever he thought he was protecting him from had to stop.

Canada bit his bottom lip, thinking about how to word it. "Basically holding cells where the Plagues keep the humans and farm them like cattle. As soon as a girl is sexually mature she is moved to one of the main building where she is artificially inseminated. When a male is sexually mature they have to give sperm samples to aid with their breeding program."

Gilbert's eyes went wide with horror. "Breeding program? Why would they need to breed humans?"

"Plagues need humans to eat and to create more of them." Said Canada, pain and sorrow tugged at his voice. "Plagues were once human, but once they turn they become infertile so they need living humans so breed. Their species survival depends on young, strong, fit humans… But once Plagues can start breeding they'll just use humans for food. They'll let them breed with whoever they want and eat what they please."

It was just too horrific for Gilbert to handle. Plagues were human and were now using them as food and as a means to continue their grotesque species. He felt like he was going to be sick. Plagues were like zombies, but they weren't. They were smart. They were trying to evolve. Gilbert looked at Canada with wide eyes. "We have to help them."

Canada chuckled darkly. "Help them? The people trapped in there like rats? How do you propose we do that? Just walk up and blast them with weapons we don't have? Granted we do have swords, but that's pathetic."

"You can use magic." Said Gilbert. He couldn't just walk away after finding out what H farms were really. "You can save them easily."

"That's suicide." Said Canada. "No one can take on an entire H farm and live to tell the tail."

Gilbert growled. "Well if you won't help them I will." He started to stand up but Canada pulled him back down.

"What are you doing?" He snapped. "You just want to go in there and act like a hero? Go and get yourself killed? Is that what you want? The best way we can help is by ending this war. And the only way this war will end is if Hunter is killed…" At the mention of Hunter's name Canada shivered and immense sadness clouded his eyes. But only for a moment. "Let's get going." He crawled back down the hill and waited for Gilbert to follow.

Gilbert looked over at the H farm one last time before following Canada. He looked at Canada and growled. "Then we'll find him and kill him."

Canada sighed sadly. "How? He hardly ever leaves the Bird Cage. The only way someone would be able to get up there is if he wants someone up there."

Gilbert nodded slowly. "Anyway… how are we going to get into Berlin?"

Canada thought for a second and frowned. "Well… There's only one way I know how to get into Berlin undetected. But it isn't the most… sanitary way."

"I don't even want to know." Said Gilbert.

Canada chuckled and started to walk back into the forest. "Yeah that's probably best." They didn't have to walk very far before they came to a large concrete slab. In the middle of the slab was a manhole.

Gilbert's eyes went wide and he shook his head. "No way in hell. There are many things I'll do, but go walking in a sewer is not one of them."

Canada rolled his eyes and started to pull the manhole up. "It's not that bad really… You'll get used to the smell eventually." As soon as the manhole was removed the stench or rot and decay filled the air making them both gage. "Remember I said eventually." Coughed Canada. He held his nose and jumped in. "Come on Gilbert." He called. "It's not that bad. Besides if we don't start moving soon a Plague or a Grabber might find us and take us to the H farm."

Gilbert knew Canada was probably lying, but he really didn't want to risk it. He held his breath and jumped in. He landed in what he assumed was sewer sludge. It covered his shoes and the hems of his pants. "That's rank."

Canada shrugged. "Yeah well it got you down here right? Let's get going."

"But how the hell are we going to see?" Asked Gilbert. They could only see a few meters in front of them because of the open manhole. Other than that it was pitch black.

Canada simple smiled and pulled out the lighter beads. "Is there a stick somewhere we could use?"

Gilbert looked around and saw a discarded bit of rusted pipe. "We could use that?"

Canada nodded in agreement and picked it up. Thick globs of green slime fell off it and collected into a plie on the floor. Gilbert cringed at the slime. That could have been anything. Canada just shrugged it off and ripped a sleeve off his jumper and wrapped it around one end of the pipe and threw a lighter bead at it. The fabric instantly caught on fire lighting the tunnel up. Canada smiled and looked over at Gilbert. "Now that that's sorted let's go."

Gilbert sighed dramatically and crossed his arms. "Fantastic." He looked up at the sky through the manhole and frowned. It would be a long time before he would see the sky again. "Let's get going."

The sewer seemed to give off an eerie green glow; possibly because of the noxious gas in the sewer or the alga on the walls. It was gross to say the least. Especially when some of it dripped onto his head or down the back of his neck. "Um… this isn't toxic is it?"

"Not sure." Said Canada with a shrug. "Besides if it was would you want to know?" He had a point.

Soon they came to a fork in the road so to speak. They could either go down the tunnel to the left or the one to the right. Canada frowned and looked over at Gilbert. "Which way?"

Gilbert shrugged. "I have no idea. Just as long as we don't run into any Plagues or Grabbers I'm good."

Canada nodded and started to walk down the left path. As they walked along it the noticed that the path was getting narrower, and more crowded by rubbish. This wouldn't have been a problem if the rubbish didn't tug at their legs. Eventually they had to stop to pull it off. '_What the hell are these?_' Thought Gilbert. '_Sticks?_'

He pulled one of the supposed sticks off his pants and looked at it; it was thin and flat, broad at one end and thin at the other, brown and slightly splintered and had some weird brownish red almost black powdery stuff coming out of the middle.

"Bones!" Cried Canada in shock. He dropped what was in his hand to the ground and pointed the torch to the ground. The floor was littered with skeletons.

Gilbert dropped the bone in his hand and gulped. "You just had to make us walk down some bone garbage shoot didn't you?"

Canada shivered and closed his eyes tight. "If I knew… If I knew that… that there were bones down here… I would have taken the other path." He started to hyperventilate.

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "Canada? Are you afraid of bones?"

"Stupid phobia but yes." Whispered Canada. He started to shake violently and dropped the torch.

Gilbert quickly grabbed the torch and put his hand on Canada's shoulder. "Um no offence but how the hell can you be afraid of bones? I mean we were eating meat right off animal bone before. How can you be afraid of them?"

Canada whimpered and hugged himself. "Animal bones I can handle… Human bones are a completely different story."

"What makes you think they are human bones?" Asked Gilbert. "A lot of these could be animal bones you know."

"Gilbert." Growled Canada darkly. "We are under Plague central. Plagues only eat two things; humans and weak Plagues. They are both human Gilbert… Well one was… But you get the idea."

Gilbert sighed. He knew Canada shouldn't have been so afraid, but he would have had a good reason. He took Canada's hand and smiled slightly. "It's okay. This is what we'll do; I'll lead us out of here and we'll take the other tunnel."

"No." Snapped Canada. "We have to keep going. If both of the tunnels lead to Berlin than it doesn't matter which way we go. Both tunnels will have bones in them."

Gilbert sighed. He didn't want to make Canada even more uncomfortable than he already was. "Fine we'll keep going… Um do you have any idea where the hell we are?"

Canada nodded. "Yeah kind of. We just need to keep going straight ahead. Eventually there should be a tunnel leading off to the left. We need to go down it."

"Okay." Whispered Gilbert. "Just don't let go of my hand and be careful where you step." Canada nodded and gripped Gilbert's hand tight. A dark blush covered Gilbert's face. He was thankful Canada had his eyes shut, or it would have been really embarrassing. He held the torch up and slowly started to walk through the bones, occasionally kicking some out of the way. But he tried to do this as little as possible, the clatter made Canada flinch.

Eventually Gilbert saw the tunnel Canada was talking about and they were able to walk into. As soon as Gilbert said it was okay Canada opened his eyes and blushed. "Um… thanks for that… I didn't… That is um…"

"It's cool." Said Gilbert reassuringly. "Everyone has fears."

Canada smiled softly and looked around the tunnel. "Okay… there's a hatch or door around here somewhere…" He looked down at a puddle of green water on the ground and frowned. "Of course it's there…" He crouched down and put his hands in the water, feeling around.

Gilbert cringed. "Ew. What are you doing?"

Canada furrowed his brows in concentration. "I'm trying to get a grip on the stupid hatch thing… Found it!" He quickly yanked a metal door out of the floor and the water quickly drained away. Canada grinned and poked his head down the hole and quickly looked around. "Just as I thought." He quickly stood up and jumped into it.

Gilbert gasped and looked down. "STOP DOING THAT!" He screamed. He couldn't see Canada at all, it was too dark.

"I'm fine!" Called Canada from the darkness. "Jump. I'll catch you. Just throw down the torch first."

Gilbert frowned but did as he was told and threw it down. Canada caught it and placed it on the ground. "Your turn."

'_He had better not drop me or he's dead._' He closed his eyes and jumped. Canada did catch him, but he stumbled and fell flat on his back.

Canada gasped for breath. "Can't breathe… Too heavy… My back…"

Gilbert blushed and quickly got off of Canada. "Sorry. Um… where under Berlin are we?"

Canada slowly stood up and picked up the torch. "We are under the sewers. Way more hygienic and less likely to run into dead people." He walked up to the wall and dipped the torch into some trough that jutted out of the wall. The whole place flooded with light revealing soft cream coloured stone walls.

Gilbert's eyes went wide. "Awesome… Where are we?"

Canada put the torch on the ground and though for a moment. "Well… think of Berlin like a mall. You have all the things above ground like the shops while you have underground parking. Think of this as parking level two." He started to walk down the hall with a smile on his face.

Gilbert frowned and started to follow him. He furrowed his brows in thought. '_Parking level two? Doesn't that mean there is another level below us?_'

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Damn that was painful to write… Please review.


	30. Marble Forest

Shinigami-cat: Okay prepare to be amazed! The awesome Prussia appears in this chapter… But not in the way you were expecting. I'm getting ready for a heck of a lot hate mail… I OWN NOTHING!

**Marble Forest**

After walking down the hall for what seemed like hours, they didn't seem like they were going anywhere quickly. Everything seemed to be going at a snail's pace, but at least Canada seemed more cheerful. It was nice, but for some reason it unsettled Gilbert immensely.

Gilbert kept looking over his shoulder, expecting something to jump out at them, "Where are we exactly?" asked Gilbert, "I mean, I know we're under Berlin, but where exactly under Berlin are we?"

Canada glanced towards Gilbert and smiled, "This is just a really old tunnel. Some humans found it just before the war started and thought it might be an ancient prison, but none of them were able to get through the door, so they never found out."

Gilbert frowned, "That didn't answer my question. Where under Berlin are we?"

Canada shrugged, "Sorry, but I have no idea at all. I'm not a GPS. We're almost there anyway, it's just around the bend."

Gilbert sighed and shook his head. Canada had said that seventeen bends ago! He was starting to doubt that Canada knew where they were going, but since there were no paths to take, they couldn't have been lost. He looked up at the roof and frowned. The roof was covered with little wriggling blue lights, also known as glowworms. They were quite pretty, but at the same time they were a little creepy.

Gilbert was concentrating so much on the glowworms, he didn't even notice Canada had stopped walking and bumped into him, "Why'd you stop walking?"

"We made it." said Canada with a smile. He stepped aside so Gilbert could see what he was looking at. He was amazed at what he saw; a large marble woman draped in a toga, her long hair melted into the marble tree behind her and she held a challis in one hand and a snake in the other.

Gilbert's jaw dropped, "Wow… What the hell? Who the hell? What?"

Canada chuckled, "This is Earth… Well, what we assume she would look like. She used to talk to the oldest of ancients… But over time she withdrew herself from people in favor of animals, or so the legend goes."

Gilbert nodded slowly, still confused about why they were there, "And we're looking at a statue of Earth because…?"

"Oh… well she's the door to where we need to go." said Canada with a casual wave of his hand, "Behind her is the very center of Berlin. This door is so well protected by different spells that once the door is locked, it's nearly impossible to open."

"For everyone except you right?" asked Gilbert.

"Correct." said Canada, "Now I just need to remember how this works…"

Gilbert sighed and sat against the wall. Unlocking a door shaped like a statue seemed like it could take a while. He rested his chin on his knees. '_I wonder what's behind the door… Well, Canada did say that this was an ancient prison, so I guess Prussia could be behind the door._' At that thought, his eyes lit up and a smile graced his face. If Prussia was behind the door then he could help them kill Hunter and win the war. Then maybe he would be able to go home.

That thought made him happy. No one would believe him when he told him or her everything he had seen. They would call him crazy and send him to a mental institution for sure, but it sure as hell would be worth it.

Suddenly, the sound of breaking rocks and tremors filled the room. Gilbert's head snapped over to where the statue was. It was glowing bright red and the smooth stone flesh was melting away like ice, absorbing into the ground, revealing a large metal door covered in locks and gears.

Canada looked over at Gilbert and smiled happily, "Almost done now."

Gilbert nodded and walked over to the door. Chains and locks of different designs, shapes, and colours hung from it in a gaudy manner. He looked over at Canada and raised an eyebrow, "Um… You have the keys for this thing right?"

Canada chuckled, "Keys? Who needs keys when there is only one key that really matters?" He walked up to the right side of the door and moved away some of the chains to revel a little spider shaped combination lock. He slowly spun the numbers into it and looked over at Gilbert, "Just like a spider only has a few strands of web to step on, so does this door have a few locks that need to be unlocked for this door to open."

The lock fell off and the other chains and locks began to fizzle and dissolve into nothingness. Gilbert just shook his head, "I'm never going to understand how the hell magic works."

"That's why most people don't bother to." said Canada, "They remove the science and just say it's unreal and impossible. The same can be said for how a light bulb works."

Gilbert shrugged, "I guess…"

Canada smiled and started to push on the giant metal door, trying to open it, "Maple, this is heavy… Mind lending me a hand?"

Gilbert didn't have anything better to do, so he walked over to Canada and helped him push against the door. Slowly, the door creaked open enough for them to squeeze through.

They went inside and had a look around. It was pitch black and a few glowworms were attached to the top of the roof.

"Want to use some lighter beads?"

Canada shook his head, "No need. Excuse me, fairies, could you please lend us a little light?" Suddenly, the glowworms flew off roof and hovered in front of Canada's face. Turns out they were light fairies. Canada smiled at them and held out his hand for them to land on. Some of them did, others hovered over his head making him look almost angelic.

Gilbert shook his head, '_I so did not just think that Canada looks angelic._' He felt something land on his head and frowned. He reached up to brush it off, but stopped when he felt tiny hands press against one of his fingers. '_Oh… a fairy._'

Canada looked over at Gilbert and chuckled, "You look like you're covered in glowing snow."

Gilbert rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Can we get going now? Not to insult the fairies, but this is really weird. Can we keep walking?"

Canada nodded and started to walk, "Okay… Um, can some of you please stay close to the floor so we can see the steps?"

A few of the fairies flew off Canada's head and hands to hover above the floor, lighting up the flight of steps that were previously invisible in the darkness.

Gilbert raised an eyebrow, "It sounds like you've been here before."

"That's because I have." Canada deadpanned before starting to walk down the steps.

'_He's been here before? But why? This is a prison, isn't it? Did Hunter keep him here?_' Thoughts and theories passed through his mind until something sharp tugged his hair.

"Damn it!" A small light fairy fluttered in front of his face and pointed towards Canada. Gilbert rolled his eyes, "I get it! I'm going! I'm going! Pushy much?" He swished his hand in front of his face to get the fairy to move and started to follow Canada.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

After walking down the pitch-black steps for a few minutes, a small pinprick of light could be seen off in the distance and Canada slowed down. He seemed reluctant to go any further. Gilbert sighed, "What's wrong now?"

Canada shook his head, "Nothing… It's just been a long, long, long time since I've been here…"

"How long is long?"

"Seventy two years." muttered Canada. He shook his head and smiled, "Well, it doesn't matter. Not a lot would have changed, right? Let's keep going."

Something was off with Canada. Something was really off. He was hiding something, and Gilbert was tired of it. He grabbed Canada's arm and pushed him against the wall, making the fairies fly back a safe twenty centimeters, "What are you hiding now Canada?"

"Nothing!" Canada cried, "Why are you assuming that I'm hiding something?"

"Because as much as I'd hate to admit it, I know you." snapped Gilbert, "When you're nervous, you just bottle things up and hide what you're really thinking. You just put on a smile and act like everything is alright when it's not. Now tell me what's wrong."

Canada stared at Gilbert with astonishment for what seemed like hours before he pushed him away, "You want to know what's wrong? If I asked you 'what's right', what would you say? Nothing is right in this world, therefore everything is wrong." His eyes were clouded with darkness and sorrow, "Nothing's alright. Nothing is fine. This place is horrible. So, in answer to your question, everything is wrong." He sighed and started to walk to the end of the tunnel.

Gilbert shook his head. Canada just had this way of saying so much without saying anything at all. He could avoid the truth with skill. It was a good quality to have when being held captive by the enemy, but useless when trying to find out the truth. Did Canada think he couldn't handle the truth?

At the end of the tunnel was a large room filled with trees, flowers, and grass all made from marble. Light fairies filled the room and lit up every feature. It was amazing. Gilbert wasn't expecting something like this.

He walked over to one of the trees and touched the trunk. It felt soft and smooth under his fingers.

"Awesome."

Canada shrugged and lightly touched a marble flower, "I guess… But it loses its luster after a while…" He walked over to a small path and sighed, "Are you coming? You… you can stay here if you like… It's not like it's a big deal or anything…"

Gilbert quickly walked over to Canada and shook his head, "Hey, it's fine, I can look around later. Let's get going. Not that much further I hope?"

Canada nodded and started to walk, Gilbert close behind him, "Hey Gilbert?" whispered Canada, "You know how I said that people thought this was an ancient prison?"

Gilbert raised an eyebrow, "Yeah?"

"They were wrong," said Canada, "this is a mausoleum for the fallen nations."

Gilbert's eyes went wide, "What?"

Canada nodded, "When a nation dies, their body fades away, leaving nothing but a handful of belongings… When they die, it's tradition for the belongings to be placed inside a tomb."

They came to a large clearing filled with black marble tombs with white marble figures lying peacefully on top, as if they were asleep.

Gilbert gulped as a heavy weight settled in his stomach. '_A mausoleum..? Why would we come here? I thought we were going to see Prussia… Oh God..._'

Canada sighed sadly as he walked past the rows of fallen nations, eventually stopping at one, "You wanted to meet Prussia…? Well, here he is in all his carved glory."

Gilbert slowly walked over to the tomb and felt his blood run cold when he saw the marble figure on top. His hands were folded over his chest, the chainmail and tunic were intricately detailed and folded over the figures body, the face was set to give the illusion that he was asleep and his hair was so finely detailed that you could have made out the individual strands, but the thing that scared Gilbert the most was that the marble statue looked just like him. '_Oh god… Why does he look like me?_'

"I'm sorry Gilbert." whispered Canada, "I'm sorry for everything. You should have never seen this… We never should have even met. I was just so selfish."

"It's fine." muttered Gilbert, who was still stunned at the likeness.

Canada shook his head, "No… No it isn't." He looked down at his feet and clenched his fists, "That vase that you broke was worth about ten dollars, fifteen max."

Gilbert looked at Canada with wide eyes, not sure if he should be angry or amused, "What?"

"I'm sorry…" said Canada again, struggling to hold back the pain in his voice, "It was just a scare tactic and a joke that Kuma and I shared. We thought it was funny how things that look worthless usually cost the most. So when things got broken I'd act like it was worth more than it actually was. It was just a joke… And if someone actually did break it I'd just tell them that I was kidding and they would just pay what it actually was."

Gilbert's jaw dropped, "What? Then why did you say it was so damn expensive?"

Canada shook his head, "Because I'm selfish… I haven't seen Prussia alive for seventy-two years. I don't need to tell you what it's like to see someone you've loved after so long… Just seeing them right in front of you, but knowing that they don't remember you at all… All the things that happened between them… Everything is just gone. That's just the worst feeling ever."

Tears were starting to fall down Canada's face, "It hurt to see someone else with Prussia's face, but I just kept remembering that I was in a different world. You probably didn't even know the me in your world."

Gilbert's mind was racing, '_Oh God… I'm Prussia? Well, kind of, not really, but still._' He looked back at the marble figure and bit his bottom lip, '_Did Canada watch Prussia drown?_'

"But then you said that I looked just like Matthew," sobbed Canada, "and you kissed me. You said that I was the closest thing to him as you could get. You said I looked and acted and sounded just like him… That's when I realized how horrible I had been." He wiped away some of his tears and looked at the tomb, "I realized that I was using you. I wanted everything that you wanted. I wanted to feel something other than pain. I wanted to feel needed, I wanted to feel loved, and I needed to feel like I mattered, but I didn't want it from you. I wanted it from Prussia."

Gilbert was dumbstruck. Canada had poured his heart out right in front of him and confessed everything, "Is that why you said that you couldn't replace Matthew?"

Canada nodded, "Yes. I realized that we were both being selfish. We couldn't be in the same room anymore. I was afraid that if we continued down the path we were going we would do something that we would both regret." He looked over at Gilbert, his eyes were red and puffy from crying, "That's why I said I hated you. That's why I said I could never love you. I didn't realize that by saying that you would try and kill yourself."

Gilbert just looked at Canada. He couldn't understand what was going on. He should have felt anger, rage, and pure hate towards Canada, after all, if it wasn't for him, he would still be in his own world with his family and friends, but instead he felt amazed and astonished at everything Canada had been through. He hid his pain so well behind his smile and good nature. No one would have ever guessed how messed up he really was inside.

Gilbert smiled softly and brushed some of the hair out of Canada's face, "So why did we come here? You knew you would get upset, so why did you bring us here? Was it the only way you thought you could explain this to me?"

Canada sniffed and nodded, "Yes… and I wanted to return something that belonged to him." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small golden pocket watch.

Gilbert smiled. He remembered when he found that watch sticking out from under a wardrobe in Canada's shop, but he quickly remembered that Canada said that the pocket watch belonged to a friend he watched drown. He looked back at the statue and sighed, "I'll give you two some space…"

Canada smiled softly, "Thank you."

Gilbert nodded and quickly walked back into the marble forest. When he was far enough away, he sat at the base of a tree and held his head in his hands. Tears started to build up in the corners of his eyes. '_Oh god… That's why… That's why he wouldn't let me kill myself. That's why no matter how I treated him he was always nice to me… All because I look and sound and act just like Prussia._'

They both seemed to want what they could never have, the one they loved, but now that they knew about each other's past, would they be able to let it go and move on? Only time would tell.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat:** Please don't kill me for killing Prussia! Well as soon as you've stopped crying that is… Well until all the emotion blows over I'm going into hiding… Please review!


	31. Talk it out

**Shinigami-cat:** Okay I'm happy that no one wants to kill me over the last chapter. Please excuse the Google translated words. It's good sometimes but other times it's a bastard… I OWN NOTHING!

**Talk It Out**

They left the tomb after a few hours. They couldn't get out the same way they went in, which Gilbert was very grateful for, so they had to walk down a tunnel that seemed to never end. Eventually, they came to an old, rusted door and opened it. On the other side was a cave. It took them less than five minutes to find their way out and back into a forest.

Canada just sighed and continued to walk. The atmosphere was heavy and depressing around him. Gilbert didn't like it, but he didn't know what to do. He wanted to ask about Prussia. He wanted to know everything about him, but he couldn't just come out and ask. Canada was just too emotional at the moment.

Gilbert frowned and looked down at the grass, "Hey… Are we still in Germany?"

Canada shook his head, "No… I think we're at, um… Papa's house. France."

Gilbert nodded and continued to follow. Canada just seemed numb now, blocking out any and all emotion. He was a blank canvas, completely unreadable. It was painful really.

"Hey Canada," said Gilbert, "can we talk about Pru-"

"No." said Canada quickly, "I don't want to talk about him. Let the dead rest in peace."

"I'm not talking about opening his grave." said Gilbert with a pout, "I just want to know a bit more about hi-"

"SHUT UP!" snapped Canada, "JUST SHUT UP! DON'T TALK ABOUT HIM!"

Gilbert jumped back in surprise, "Calm down! I just wanted to know a bit more abou-"

"I DON'T CARE!" screamed Canada.

"Will you let me finish my sentence?" growled Gilbert in frustration, "Why are you so freaking angry at me? I haven't done anything!"

Canada threw his head back and laughed, "Damn it, Gilbert! I can't even look at you at the moment. What makes you think I want to talk to you? Everything you do pisses me off!"

Gilbert clenched his fists, "Hey, just because I look like him doesn't mean I am him!"

Canada rolled his eyes, "You don't get it do you? It doesn't matter what you've experienced in life, who you've met, what you've eaten or where you live! Deep down, all the basics that make you are the same in every universe! I'm sure you've noticed that I act like Matthew, even though I've never met him before!" he spat.

Gilbert frowned and held up his hands in defeat, "Okay, I get it, but you need to calm down!"

Canada growled and threw a rock at a tree, causing it to splinter, "Damn it, Gilbert! Just shut the hell up!" He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed, "This just… I can't keep… I'm just overwhelmed… Whenever I see him, I remember everything that we were and how it'll never be the same."

Gilbert sighed dramatically, "Oh, come off it, Birdie. I don't give a shit if you look and act like Matthew anymore! I know you two sure as hell aren't the same."

Canada clenched his fists and growled, "I know… But it doesn't making things any easier." He started to walk faster, twigs crunching under his feet. Gilbert shook his head and quickly followed. Canada was just a rollercoaster of emotions.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

As the day went on, Canada's mood didn't improve. He seemed to just be giving Gilbert the silent treatment or even ignoring the albino. It was seriously pissing Gilbert off.

They decided to make camp near the side of a small river, under the shade of a willow tree. Canada made a small fire while Gilbert went out hunting. He set several small traps and waited in a nearby tree. To pass the time, he busied himself with a piece of string by threading it through his fingers.

He sighed and looked up at the clouds. '_I guess I could do something to make him feel better… Maybe I could give him all the meat I catch today… If not that, I guess I could do something else…_'

Suddenly, he heard one of his traps go off. He grinned and jumped out of the tree. "Sweet." He quickly ran over to where the trap was and grinned. He had caught big, fat rabbit. The rope was hanging around its neck, meaning he wouldn't have to kill it. He just cut it loose and tied it to his belt, then climbed back up the tree and waited for his next trap to go off.

With six rabbits strung to his belt, he decided to head back to camp, but he heard his last trap go off. He contemplated leaving it since he had more than enough, but another rabbit was another rabbit. He casually walked over to where the trap was and stopped dead in his tracks. Three hulking behemoths in black battle armor were standing around the rabbit that was hanging from the end of Gilbert's trap.

Gilbert gulped and slowly started to walk away. '_I'm guessing that these are B-Plagues…_'

As he backed away, he happened to step on a twig causing the B-Plagues to turn and face him. Gilbert laughed nervously. '_Just my luck…_' One of the B-Plagues raised a giant hammer over its head and roared. Gilbert took this as his cue to run, which he did.

He ran through the forest with the B-Plagues close behind, "CANADA!" He screamed, "CANADA! B-PLAGUES! HOLY SHIT!" A tree fell right in front of him blocking his path. He grabbed his sword and turned to face the B-Plagues.

One of them swung their battle axe at Gilbert. He was able to block it, but it knocked him back onto the tree trunk. He groaned and slowly sat up. He looked up at the B-Plague and felt his blood run cold. The B-Plague had its battle axe raised high up in the air, ready to cut Gilbert in half.

Suddenly, one of the Plague's arms fell off and Gilbert was pulled to his feet. He turned and saw Canada. Canada glared at him and started to attack another Plague, "Is it really that hard to catch a few rabbits?"

Gilbert growled and ducked when a Plague swung a hammer at his head, "Right, because I totally meant for three B-Plagues to see and follow me!" He swung his sword and stabbed a Plague in the arm making it drop the hammer.

"Please," snapped Canada as he deflected an attack, "you're just deliberately causing problems for me now!" He quickly dodged an attack and punched a Plague in the face.

Gilbert scoffed, "Why do you think I asked Ukraine to teach me how to fight in the first place?" He quickly dived out of the way when a branch fell out of a tree. "I don't want to cause you problems, damn it!"

"Well, good job so far." hissed Canada. He jumped out of the way when a Plague tried to punch him and slammed the handle of his sword into temple of the Plague's head, shattering it instantly, "One down two to go."

Gilbert shook his head and swept a leg underneath a Plague, knocking him to the ground. When he was down, Gilbert stabbed it in the face and twisted.

"One left." He muttered. He turned to see it was the Plague with the one arm. Canada seemed to be having difficulty with it. Gilbert rolled his eyes and stabbed it in the back of the head, killing it instantly. He panted heavily and looked at Canada, "Are you okay?"

Canada nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine."

Suddenly, his eyes widened as he looked at Gilbert's legs, "What the hell happened? Where are you bleeding?"

"Huh?" Gilbert looked down at his legs and gasped. There was blood everywhere… He was also missing five rabbits, "Damn it… The rabbits must have gotten damaged during the fight."

Canada breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank goodness… I thought for a second that… Nevermind." He looked over at the B-Plagues and smiled, "Let's see what they have on them."

He crouched down in front of the Plague in front of him and searched for anything useful. All he found was ten lighter beads and strips of dried human meat. He pocketed the beads and threw away the meat. The next one didn't have anything of much use, just a few pieces of rock used to sharpen blades. The third Plague, though, had a map. Canada grinned as he unfurled it looked over it.

Gilbert looked over his shoulder and frowned. "I can't read this. Is it in French?"

Canada nodded and ran a finger over the red lines of the map, "Yeah… What the hell are these lines? Where they were planning to go or where they have been?"

Gilbert shrugged and looked over the B-Plagues, "Hey, how come some of them liquefy?"

Canada shrugged, "Something about the spinal fluid mixing with the blood I think… Look, I don't really care right now. I'm trying to read this map."

Gilbert growled and pulled the map right out of Canada's hands, "Hey, give that back!"

"Sit down and shut up Canada." snapped Gilbert, "I have something I need to say." Canada frowned and crossed his arms.

"Close enough…" muttered Gilbert. He folded up the map and tucked it under his arm, "Look, I know it can be emotionally draining to visit someone's grave, remember my Vater, Mutter and Stiefmutter are dead, but you have to get over this! I'm not sure what Prussia would have wanted for you, but he sure as hell wouldn't want to see you all upset over visiting his grave! Weren't you the one that said no matter which universe I'm from, I'm basically the same? If that's really the case, then I sure as hell know that Prussia wouldn't want you to be upset or angry."

"…Because you wouldn't want Matthew to be upset or angry?" asked Canada.

Gilbert nodded, "Exactly! If I don't want Matthew to be upset, then I definitely don't want you to be upset." He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, "I have no idea how it works with countries, but us mortal humans don't have forever to grieve. We can't let sadness consume us. Our loved ones would be pissed from beyond the grave if we let that happen." He chuckled at that thought, "I guess that means Vater, Mutter and Stiefmutter are pissed beyond belief at me… Same with Matthew…"

Canada sighed and shook his head, "Matthew could never be angry with you, Gilbert."

"Then why are you angry at me?" asked Gilbert.

Canada shrugged and crossed his arms, "Because you know about Prussia, you probably hate me for dragging you into this mess in the first place, I lied to you and put you through a lot of heartache, and let's not even mention all of the mental trauma I've probably put you through. Apart from that, I don't think there's any reason for me to be angry with you."

Gilbert frowned, "So, you're upset with me because you think I'm upset with you? Are you PMS-ing or something?"

"Well, there _is_ another reason for me to be pissed at you." snapped Canada.

Gilbert sighed and shook his head, "Okay fine… But I'm not angry at you, so stop getting angry at me. Truce?"

Canada sighed in defeat, "Okay, fine, truce."

"Good." said Gilbert. He returned the map to Canada, who quickly took it and opened it. Gilbert sighed and looked over the map. There was a small drawing of an old style building with a word written in fancy writing under it. "What does _Position finale homme mort_ mean?"

Canada looked over at the picture and frowned. "'Dead man's final stand.' It's a small town that got set up in the countryside of France a few years after the war started. It's a hot spot for demons and humans. The whole place is protected by a magic seal that stops Plagues from entering… But it's not the safest or morally correct place in the world."

Gilbert nodded, "I see… How far away from here is it? A day's trip? Two days?"

Canada shrugged and looked over the map with skeptical eyes, "Maybe… it all depends on where the hell we are. If we can find another road and a street sign we might be able to make it to _Position finale homme mort _in a few hours."

Gilbert nodded, "Cool… But let me guess, it's too late to even bother looking for that place now?"

Canada nodded and put the map away. "Yeah… well, the sun rises in the east right? So we just need to see which way it sets, then we'll know which way to go in the morning."

Gilbert nodded and looked around at the bodies of the Plagues. He cringed, "Yeah… Let's get back to camp."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

The moon was high up in the sky while Gilbert and Canada ate their meal of rabbit meat and instant bread. They weren't giving each other the cold shoulder anymore, but they weren't exactly buddies again either. When Canada was done, he went back to studying the map. He used a bit of charred wood to draw little markings on the map.

Gilbert sighed and lied down. Today had gone pretty well for him. The only bad thing that had happened was that his pants were now covered in blood. He would have to wash them.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat:** Yeah… Reviews please…


	32. Pub Tueur

**Shinigami-cat:** So here is the next chapter… I OWN NOTHING!

**Pub Tueur**

Early the next day, they walked off to find a road. It took them about half an hour, but they found one. When they found a street sign, Canada was able to point them in the right direction.

"Just a few hundred or so kilometres in a northern direction and we will either be at _Position Finale Homme Mort _or we will be at the coast." said Canada happily.

Gilbert shrugged and put his hands in his pockets, "As long as there are no Plagues, I'm happy."

Canada smiled and walked down the road, map tucked under his arm. He seemed to be in a much better mood today. That, in turn, made Gilbert feel better. '_I like him like this. Less blood thirsty and pissed._'

After a few hours they stopped off to eat. Nothing but bread, but they didn't mind. When Canada had finished eating, he sighed and looked over at Gilbert, "What did you want to know?"

"About what?" asked Gilbert.

"Prussia." said Canada with a small frown, "You wanted to talk about him the other day."

Gilbert shrugged, "It's cool, I don't really care anymore."

Canada raised an eyebrow, "Are you sure? I don't really mind that much. Just nothing too personal… I got enough of that from Papa. At least when America asked me, he got me drunk first."

Gilbert shuddered and shook his head, "Nothing like that. I just wanted to know how you two met."

Canada shrugged, "It was nothing special. France was friends with Prussia, so I've known him ever since I was little, but we never really talked. The first time we actually talked was at a world meeting. That's where all the countries meet and talk about the world's problems and how to fix them. Not that we ever decided on anything…"

Gilbert chuckled, "Sounds like any government out there."

"I guess…" said Canada, "Anyway, after one meeting his pet bird landed on my head and I gave it back to him. It just snowballed from there. What about you?"

"What about me?" asked Gilbert.

"How did you meet Matthew?"

Gilbert thought for a second, "Well… I met him on the school roof. He was really shy. He told me that he was hiding from some Cuban kid who always mistook him for his brother and beat him up."

Canada nodded, "Cuba… He always thought I was America… He would probably still beat the crap out of me if he saw me."

Gilbert shrugged, "Yeah well… After that, we just hung out more until I finally asked him on a date."

Canada smiled, "Nice and simple. I like it." He looked up at the sky and sighed, "Well, let's get going. I'd rather not sleep outside again."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

It was dusk by the time they got to _Position Finale Homme Mort_. It looked like a cross between a slum and a medieval village with mud and stone wall houses with sheet metal roofs. Rubbish littered the streets and drunken people were crammed into alleyways and the corners of pubs. Canada sighed and rubbed his temples, "On second thought, I'd rather sleep in the forest."

Gilbert shrugged, "Looks like something out of an RPG."

"I guess… By the way, Gilbert," said Canada, "be careful. This place is full of murderers, thieves, rapists and bounty hunters, so watch your back."

Gilbert face palmed, "I'll watch my ass, too. Why didn't you say anything _before_ we got here?"

Canada shrugged, "Because I knew you wouldn't really want to come here if you knew what kind of people were here."

Gilbert shook his head and sighed, "Well, let's just find a place to stay…" Canada nodded in agreement and they started to walk through the mud filled streets. Occasionally, Gilbert would see humans, but it seemed that there were more demons here. Some had scales, some had fangs, some even had animal ears and tails. It was interesting, to say the least.

Suddenly, a man was thrown through a window and a chorus of laughter erupted from the window. Canada and Gilbert exchanged worried looks, "Seems safe enough." said Gilbert.

"Totally." muttered Canada. He looked up at the name of the pub and frowned, "Well, when the pub is called _tueur_…"

"What does that mean?"

"Killer. It's French."

"Oh."

Canada shrugged and walked inside, "May as well see if there are any vacancies." Gilbert just shook his head and followed. It was probably safe enough. The pub was filled with the sour smell of vomit and beer and the obnoxious chorus of laughter filled the air. Canada quickly ducked when a bottle of wine flew through the air and smashed into the door frame next to him. Canada rubbed his fingers over the wine soaked wood and licked the red liquid off his fingers. He cringed and wiped his fingers on his pants, "Too sour."

"How would you know?" asked Gilbert

"My Papa is France." said Canada, "He would be horrified if I couldn't tell the good wine from the bad."

They made their way towards the bar and sat down on two vacant seats, "Hey can we get some service here?" he asked.

Suddenly, Alexia appeared behind the counter wearing a low cut, green cocktail dress. "Hey there, Canada." she said with a sigh, "What's happening?"

Canada shrugged, "Nothing much… But do you realize if your dress was cut any lower your tits would be hanging out? What are you doing here anyway?"

Alexia chuckled, making her breasts bounce, "I'll take that as a compliment." She picked up an empty mug and started to clean it with a dirty rag, "Anyway, my old man told me to get my fat ass back here to help out because of the sudden influx of demons." She slammed the mug back down and looked over at Gilbert, "So you're still alive, little one?"

Gilbert shrugged, "I guess. Do you have any beer or do you have age restrictions?"

Alexia grinned and placed a mug in front of the albino, "You see any cops?"

"Sweet." grinned Gilbert as he grabbed the mug.

"What about you, Canada?" asked Alexia with a seductive lick of her lips.

"Wine." said Canada flatly.

Alexia pouted and gave Canada a bottle of red wine, "You're no fun. Anything interesting happen since I last saw you?"

"Train, Berlin and B-Plagues." Canada listed. He pulled out the cork with his teeth and drank.

Alexia's eyes went wide, "How many B-Plagues?"

"Three." said Gilbert, "I killed two of them."

Alexia's jaw dropped. She looked over at Canada who smirked, "You're going to attract flies if you don't close that bin Alexia."

"You're as bad as England sometimes." snapped Alexia as she snatched the bottle away from Canada's lips, "So, did he really kill two B-Plagues or is he just talking shit?"

Canada took back the bottle and swallowed a mouthful, "He's telling the truth."

Alexia squealed and grabbed Gilbert, pulling him into a hug. Unfortunately, Alexia ended up forcing Gilbert's face into her chest, "Seriously? Dude, are you sure that you only have demon ancestors? I swear, you're a full-blooded demon or at least a half-breed!"

Gilbert managed to pull himself away from the busty demon after much difficulty and gasped for air. His face was dark red with embarrassment, "Holy shit! Warn me when you're going to do that!"

Alexia laughed and adjusted the front of her dress, "Aw, you're so cute." She leaned over towards Canada and smirked, "But you've killed way more B-Plagues. I remember the stories about _The_ _Rape of Canada_."

Gilbert chocked on his beer, "_The_ _Rape of Canada_?"

Canada rolled his eyes, "It's just a name, and it was only called that because in one night pretty much everyone in my country died."

Alexia nodded excitedly, "Yeah! I heard you single handily slaughtered over a thousand B-Plagues, G-Plagues, W-Plagues and Grabbers with nothing but a curling stone."

Canada sighed, "I bet America exaggerated it again… I killed nine hundred and fifty with a hockey stick and a puck."

Gilbert eyes went wide with pure shock and horror. '_So many… He freaking killed that many?_'

Alexia giggled, "Okay, so do you two want something more than a drink?"

Canada nodded, "Yeah… Any spare rooms? Also, do you have any idea how we can get to England without killing ourselves?"

Alexia shrugged, "I'll look into it." She leaned against the counter and smirked. "As for rooms… My old man is about to give away the last room to that wendigo in the bear skin over there." She pointed over to a rather buff looking lizard demon and a wendigo. "If you want a room, I suggest you talk to him."

Canada sighed, "Fine… Do you have a knife I could use if things turn ugly?"

Alexia giggled and put a paper thin dagger on the counter, "Knock him dead, sexy."

Canada rolled his eyes and picked up the dagger, "Right…" He turned to Gilbert. "Stay here and don't move. I don't want to have to come chasing after some ungodly demon or tentacle monster because they decided to kidnap and rape you."

Gilbert nodded and drank a mouthful of beer, "Got it. I won't move." Canada smiled and walked over to the wendigo and lizard demon. The dagger tucked safely in his belt.

Alexia sighed and jumped over the counter, "If you need me, I'll be busking some tables."

Gilbert sighed and leaned against the counter. '_The Rape of Canada?_' The only thing he could think of was Hunter doing horrible things to the blonde. It made him feel sick.

"You seem a little out of place boy." growled the voice of an old man.

Gilbert looked over at the man sitting next to him. He seemed to be a werewolf of some kind, if his muzzle and features were anything to go by. Gilbert shrugged and crossed his arms, "Mind your own business old man."

The old dog chuckled and drank deeply from his mug, "Sorry, but you don't seem like the type to hang around with someone as dangerous as that… companion of yours."

"What would you know?" snapped Gilbert, "He's saved my life on more than one occasion."

"So you blindly follow him?" cackled the dog, "Those are words of a very stupid person. Everyone is always out for themselves here. That companion of yours will turn on you the moment you aren't necessary."

"He wouldn't do that." said Gilbert, "Not to me, anyway."

The old man smirked, "What makes you so special boy? Back before this all started, someone might have looked out for you, but not now."

Gilbert sighed. He knew he wasn't really that special. The only thing that actually made him special was the fact that he looked like Prussia. But the werewolf didn't need to know that, "Nothing I guess… What's the full story about what happened here? I only know bits and pieces."

The dog raised an eyebrow, "Bits and pieces?"

"So I have amnesia." said Gilbert with a twirl of his wrist, "The guy I'm traveling with won't tell me much of anything. He's treating me like I'm made of glass or something."

The old dog smirked, showing his crooked teeth, "Okay boy. This might be fun." He quickly drank half of the beer from his mug and slammed it back onto the counter, "Now, there are many variations about what really happened, but they all end the same way. It turns out like this," He gestured to the rest of the bar for emphasis, "so I'll just tell you the most popular version. There was once a wizard that wandered around because he had no home. He just travelled from place to place, never staying anywhere longer than necessary."

"Was it Hunter?" asked Gilbert.

"Don't interrupt me boy." snapped the dog, "Anyway, after several years, it's said he found something amazing. Something so beautiful and pure he fell in love with it. He called it his Beloved and didn't want anyone to touch it or see it or hurt it at all. So, he made a cage of pure ivory, silver and gold. He worshiped this bird and did all he could to protect it, but it started to die."

"Why was it dying?" asked Gilbert curiously.

The old dog shrugged and scratched his ear, "Who knows? Maybe it was old? But the point is, it was dying and the wizard was afraid. He didn't want it to disappear, so he started searching for a cure. It wasn't pretty, but eventually he found a way. He didn't realize the price he would pay, though." A wheezy laugh escaped his lips, "So anyway, he found an old mausoleum deep underground where the ancients sealed off a monstrous demon. The fool opened it up and went inside."

"What did he find?" asked Gilbert. He was on the edge of his seat.

The old dog chuckled, "He found a lake. A huge, dark purple lake where the monster was trapped and killed. It was said that the water was a powerful magic potion that's basically an all-purpose potion. In this case, it was used to trap the demon. The stupid fool fell in and that's when he found out the truth. The water didn't trap the monster, the water was the monster. And now the monster had him and… twisted him into a creature of pure nightmare."

Gilbert's eyes went wide, "Whoa… no way…"

The dog nodded and scratched its scabby chin. "Yeah. So, after a few years, he supposedly crawled back out like it had never happened. He went back to find his Beloved, but it was gone. So stricken with grief and anger was the wizard that he ripped apart an entire town. Once he was done, he realized that these people could come back to life as Plagues. With that in mind he came up with an idea. He was going to rip the world apart looking for his beloved bird."

Gilbert nodded, "But why go to all that trouble for a bird?"

The old dog rolled his eyes, "It's just a story. It probably isn't true anyway." He turned his attention back to his drink and downed it. Suddenly, the sound of glass shattering filled the pub as the wendigo flew out the window. There was a moment of silence as everyone looked over at Canada.

Said Canadian was twirling a crimson covered dagger in one hand while wiping the blood off his face with the other. When he noticed people were looking he smirked, "Have a round on me."

The pub erupted into bouts of obnoxious cheers and laughs as everything returned to normal. Alexia walked over to him and took the dagger off him. "Cool as always, sweet thing."

Canada sighed and walked over to Gilbert. "Let's go to the room, okay? I really don't want to hang around Alexia anymore." Gilbert nodded and quickly followed Canada to the back of the pub.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

When they got to their room Canada punched a hole in the wall, "Alexia's old man said there were two beds, not a double!"

Gilbert sighed and helped Canada pull his hand out of the wall, "It's not that bad. It could have been a single."

In retrospect, the room was pretty good for a place that was built out of mud and metal. A table and chair off to one side near the door, a double bed with clean sheets, a large window and a red carpet on the floor. Well, at least Gilbert hoped it was actually red and not soaked in blood.

Canada sighed and rubbed his now sore hand, "I guess… Well, go to bed. I'll just stay up for a bit. I don't trust anyone here."

Gilbert shrugged and sat on the bed. He kicked off his shoes and crawled under the covers. "Fine… Just as long as you get some sleep eventually." He closed his eyes and drifted into an uneasy sleep.

Unfortunately, he was so used to sleeping outside where everything was virtually silent, he couldn't sleep properly with all the noise in the pub. Eventually, he just gave up and just settled for just staying lying down with his eyes closed. But even that got annoying.

Gilbert cracked open his eyes and slowly waited for his eyes to adjust to the dark. Canada was sitting at the table a few feet away, looking at a candle and murmuring some phrase over and over again. He concentrated on his voice and listened. After a while he could just make out the words.

"Bad little bird, stay in your cage," He muttered to the candle, "watch all your friends die away, because soon you will be next, choking on your blood and fears. If I find out that you have escaped me, I will have to tear off your wings, so don't fly away, my beloved little bird, and just drown in your tears…"

Gilbert rubbed his eyes and slowly sat up, "Hey, Canada, are you okay?"

Canada turned his head and smiled sleepily, "Oh, I'm alright, Gilbert. Just go back to sleep."

Gilbert frowned, "But you never seem to sleep. You need to rest up."

Canada shook his head, "No thanks. I'm good."

Gilbert rolled his eyes, "Yeah, right. Come on! We're in a fucking pub! Get some sleep!"

Canada sighed in defeat, "Fine. Pass me a pillow and a blanket."

"Why bother?" asked Gilbert. He shifted over slightly giving Canada some space, "Just sleep here." As soon as the words fell from his mouth he could feel a blush creep across his face.

Canada blushed and looked away, "Um… if you're sure…" He took off his shoes and quickly lied down next to Gilbert facing away from him. "Um… Night, Gilbert."

Gilbert turned and faced the wall, "Yeah… Night."

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat:** *falls over* So freaking long… Please review.


	33. Oracle

**Shinigami-cat:** So I hope you'll like this chapter… I OWN NOTHING!

**Oracle**

Shouts and screams from the street below forced Gilbert out of his sleep. His eyes snapped open and he groaned. He had the mild effects of a hangover and his mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton. Slowly, he sat up and looked to his side to see Canada sound asleep next to him.

Gilbert couldn't help but smile; Canada looked so innocent when he was asleep. He brushed some of the hair out of Canada's face. This gesture caused Canada's eyes to slowly flutter open. He looked up at Gilbert and smiled, "Morning Gilbert."

Gilbert nodded, "Morning Birdie." He scratched the back of his head and yawned, "So… What are we doing today?"

Canada sat up and sighed, "I promised Alexia's old man that I would help him clean up the pub if I got the room, since we don't have any money." He put on his shoes and walked over to the door, "Try not to get kidnapped or raped or murdered while I'm out."

"I'm not stupid." growled Gilbert, "I can look after myself you know." He put on his shoes and followed Canada to the door.

"And where do you think you're going?" asked Canada.

"I'm going with you of course." said Gilbert, "If I don't go with you, you're going to end up killing Alexia."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

They walked back down to the pub and Gilbert was a little shocked at the mess. There were broken tables, shattered glass, stuffing ripped out of the bar stools, vomit coloured the floor, blood splattered the walls and there was an axe sticking out of the door frame.

In the middle of it all was Alexia in her underwear with a mop and bucket, "About time you two got up." She said as she slapped the mop onto the floor, running it through the vomit, "One of you can start scrubbing the walls and the other can start fixing the tables and chairs."

Canada sighed and picked up a hammer that was sitting on the bar and walked over to a broken chair, "I've got this. You clean the walls."

Gilbert shrugged and grabbed a rag and bucket from the bar. He walked over to a blood splattered wall and started to scrub. It took a bit of effort but after a while he was able to get most of it off, but the wall now had a pink smudge on it, "Is there bleach anywhere?"

Alexia shrugged and walked over to Gilbert, "Nope… Besides, Goblin blood is a bitch to get out. Don't even bother. Adds a bit of character to the old place, don't you think, Canada?"

Canada looked up from the chair he was currently trying to fix, "What? Oh, yes, character. Lots of character… What are you going to do about the windows?"

Alexia shrugged, "My old man's going out to find more stuff to make a window… Oh, and I found some transport to England for you two."

Canada's eyes lit up, "Really? What did you find?"

"An old boat." said Alexia happily, "Now, it isn't the _Titanic_ or the _Poseidon,_ but it'll get you there within twenty four hours."

"That's wonderful." said Canada. He put down the now fixed chair and started on another one, "We'll be there in no time."

Gilbert's eyes went wide and all of the colour drained from his face. '_A boat? We're going to catch a boat to England? I can't! I get violently sea sick! I'll spew as soon as we get onto the deck! I'll still vomit even if I have nothing in my stomach! Hell, I'll vomit up my stomach lining!_'

Alexia noticed Gilbert unease and grinned, "Aw, is the little one afraid of water?"

"Leave him alone Alexia." said Canada in a warning tone.

Alexia ignored him and started to poke Gilbert's arm, "Poor little baby, afraid of the big blue." She cooed, "Afraid you're going to drown? What a baby."

Canada slammed the hammer down on the table, effectively putting a huge hole in it. "Damn it, Alexia! If you don't stop bugging Gilbert, I swear to god, I'll pull that axe right out of the door frame and use it to chop you up, you whore! Gilbert, go back to the room right now!"

She frowned and backed off, "Watch out! We have a bad ass over here!"

Gilbert nodded and slowly walked back to the room. Just the thought of going on a boat made him want to puke. '_I hate boats. I hate them so much! There has to be another way to get to England… Like, um… a dragon, or something. Anything that doesn't involve a boat._'

He was about to walk back into the room when he noticed some leaves on the floor. They looked a little like tea leaves. There was a whole bunch of them spread throughout the hall and into another room. The door to said room was slightly ajar and the scent of spices gently wafted out of it. Curiosity got the better of him and he peeked inside the room.

Stocks of thyme and sage hung from the roof, gently burning away. Jars of eyes and bones were set on of rickety wooden shelves and in the middle of it all was a woman sitting at a table. Her head was down, but Gilbert could easily tell she was a demon; her skin was covered in thick, rough scales, her hair was made up if misshapen horns and her body was adorned with golden jewelry. Gilbert decided to get out of there before she noticed him.

"I've been expecting you Gilbert." She rasped, "Please, come in. I have much to tell you."

Gilbert shook his head and smirked, "Sorry, lady, but I don't trust demons who know my name off the top of their heads."

"I'm not your run of the mill demon," said the woman. She looked up at Gilbert with bright yellow snake eyes, "I'm an oracle and I go by that name. I see all and know all."

Gilbert laughed and turned to leave, "Okay, I'm out of here. Later scales."

The Oracle chuckled darkly, "Your full name is Gilbert Fredrick Beilschmidt. You have a younger half-brother called Ludwig. Your mother was born in East Germany, so she claims that she has Prussian heritage. Your father cheated on your mother with a younger, West German woman. Your father was killed by a B-Plague in possession of the fire stone. Your mother was killed after she gave birth to you because of complications when the plane she was on got destroyed by a G-Plague in possession of the air stone. Your step mother was killed by a Grabber in possession of the earth stone. An S-Plague with the spirit stone tried to kill you and Canada in a church and you had the water stone inside of you, but Canada was able to extract it from you… Shall I continue?"

Gilbert glared at the Oracle. Anger coursed through his veins. How dare that woman mention such things? Those were his private memories. She had no right to say anything like that to him, "Shut up, bitch." He hissed, "So you can see into the past. Who gives a fuck?"

The Oracle shrugged and gestured for Gilbert to sit down, "Please, have a seat. Canada won't mind. He's in the middle of deciding whether or not to strangle Alexia to death with her own intestines. We have plenty of time to talk."

Gilbert frowned and cautiously sat at the table across from her, "So you can see into the past and present. Big deal."

The Oracle smirked, showing Gilbert her needle like teeth, "You hide behind a mask of self-confidence that you have built up over many years. A thousand people could try to break it, but they will never get through, because only one little Birdie can."

Gilbert growled, "Shut up. Leave Matthew out of this."

"But the past must be known for the future to unfold." She said with a smirk, "Is there something you need to know?"

"Not a thing." deadpanned Gilbert.

The Oracle smirked and casually rubbed her finger against a bone covered in engravings, "Really? Not even if you will be able to go home or defeat a certain black armored monster?"

The mention of a monster sparked Gilbert's interest, "A black armored monster?"

The Oracle nodded, her eyes glazed over slightly as if in a trance, "I can feel the cold hand of death and the end drawing near… I can see the gods of men and all of which they fear. You need to go to an island high up in the sky." She whispered, "It's a dark place that few willingly go to. It is a place of death and fire. Ungodly fire that will burn everything to ashes. Floors had been stained red with blood. There's so much pain, but the king of the island is blind to it all."

A chill ran up Gilbert's spine, "Hunter."

The Oracle grimaced, but nodded anyway, "Yes… He sits high up there, hidden in the clouds. No one ever sees his island until it's too late."

Gilbert frowned and furrowed his brow. '_I wonder how he does that. Magic perhaps…_'

"There's going to be much pain in your future." She said, "Both physical and emotional. It's easy to treat physical pain, but nearly impossible to treat emotional pain… You should know a lot about emotional pain… Matthew's disappearance almost killed you numerous times."

Gilbert frowned and fiddled with the hem of his shirt, "Matthew's death… I… I don't want to talk about it… I want to forget, really…"

The Oracle tilted her head in confusion, "Forget? I'll never understand you humans and wanting to forget things… If you always forgot the sad and devastating, how can you make the future better and brighter?"

Gilbert shrugged, "I don't know. I guess it's human nature."

"Humans…" She muttered. Smoke from the burning herbs began to dance around the Oracle's head, "When the treasure is found, the lovers reunite and the forgotten name is spoken, this war will end and Hunter will die."

"What is this?" asked Gilbert, "A prophecy?"

The Oracle shrugged, "Take it how you see it. It could be a prophecy… But only if you see it as such. Prophecy or not, a choice must be made to end the suffering."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow, "What choice?"

The woman smiled devilishly, "The most important choice you will ever make in your life."

"Okay, but what are the choices?"

"I can't say." said the Oracle, "Who am I to give away the ending to a perfectly good story?"

"If you weren't going to tell me, then what was the point of mentioning it in the first place?" snapped Gilbert. He hated it when people did stuff like that. It was like primary school when someone would say that they had a big secret, but they weren't going to say what was because it was a secret.

The Oracle just laughed, "You're such a funny child, Gilbert. If I gave away the ending, who would want to go through all the drama?"

Gilbert rolled his eyes and stood up, "Yeah, well, nice talking to you Oracle, but I have to go now."

"Be prepared to have your heart broken, young one." warned the Oracle, "If you don't prepare yourself for it, you'll never recover properly."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow, "Right…"

"And don't be so hard on Canada." She said, "He's been through a lot more than you've been through."

"I know that." said Gilbert as he walked out of the room.

XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX

Gilbert ended up sitting in the room for the rest of the day thinking over what the Oracle and said. '_So I need to go to the Birdcage? Like hell I'm going there… But, what about that prophecy thing? Sounds a little fishy to me._'

Even though he told himself that everything she said was nothing but rubbish, he couldn't help but think of going to the Birdcage. He wondered what was up there. From the description he got, it was a bad place. It probably had a dungeon and was crawling with Plagues.

As he thought about of the Birdcage, he began to wonder about Hunter. For some reason, he imagined Hunter as a kind of Tim Burton character; tall, thin, large head and wearing a black and white striped suit. But he dismissed the idea when he realized he was thinking about Jack Skellington from _The Nightmare Before Christmas_.

He sighed and looked out the window. It reminded him a little of a fantasy movie. There were people trying to sell their goods, merchants with precious stones and jewelry, some selling food, some just sitting in the street and not all of them looked human.

Suddenly, the door burst open and in walked a very tired looking Canada. He flopped down on the bed and sighed, "I hate fixing tables…"

"Why?" asked Gilbert.

"Splinters." said Canada bluntly, "That, and getting sexually harassed by Alexia isn't exactly fun either."

Gilbert chuckled and walked over to Canada, "Yeah… She is a bit of a skank huh?"

Canada nodded in agreement, "Yeah… Sorry if she made you uncomfortable." He muttered, "She just doesn't know when to shut up."

"It's fine." said Gilbert, "I just get really sea sick."

Canada raised an eyebrow, "Really? I thought you were freaking out because of, well… You and the sea aren't exactly best friends."

Gilbert shrugged and sat down on the edge of the bed, "Yeah, well… when are we getting on this boat?"

"We are heading off tomorrow." said Canada, "The harbor is about half a day's walk from here, so rest up and try not to puke when you step on deck."

Gilbert rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah, yeah… England, here we come."

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat:** Please review


	34. Eye Earrrings

**Shinigami-cat:**So… My exams are coming up soon, wish me luck… I OWN NOTHING!

**Eye Earrings**

They left early in the morning, before sun rise, as Canada wanted. He didn't want Alexia to be awake when they left. By the time the sun's rays were just coloring the land, they were about halfway to where they needed to go.

"So where are we going again?" Gilbert asked.

"Towards a town by the sea," said Canada, "and from there, we will catch a boat to England… Maybe we'll find some sea sickness medication, too. We don't want you vomiting everywhere, now do we?"

"I'll throw you off the boat." growled Gilbert.

Canada just laughed, "I was just teasing you, Gilbert!" He took off his glasses and rubbed them against his shirt to clean of a smudge, "I wonder if anyone there can tell me about my family…"

Gilbert raised an eyebrow, "You think anyone will know?"

Canada shrugged, "I have no idea… Every now and then, France would set up a link and tell me what was going on and what I could help fix."

"How did he send you that stuff anyway?"

"The requirement closet." said Canada, "There's a little trick you can do to transport objects to another closet, but if you try to transport living things, they end up dead."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

After a few more hours of walking, they could smell the salt in the air and hear the screech of seagulls. Soon after, a small town coastal town came into view. From where they stood, they could see several boats out on the water, several houses that had been destroyed -because of either Plagues or humans it was unclear- and a few houses still standing, but they seemed more like small shops than houses.

They walked into the town which seemed a lot cleaner than_Position Finale Homme_ _Mort_. There was less garbage in the streets and the atmosphere just seemed more cheerful in general. It seemed a little odd to Gilbert, but he wasn't complaining.

"It's pretty nice here." He commented.

Canada nodded, "Yeah, well, most human settlements take two approaches to the war. They either become bitter and cold towards life or they embrace it because every day could be their last." He took a step back as a drunken man hobbled past him, "They have obviously chosen the more alcoholic one."

Gilbert nodded and sidestepped a different drunkard, "So, where are we going to go?"

Canada shrugged, "Well, first we need to find a boat that goes to England, and then we need to go to a pub until the ship sets sail."

"Why a pub?" asked Gilbert, "If it's anything like that other one, we're going to get killed."

Canada chuckled as they walked down to the harbor, "I doubt we'll get killed in a pub, Gilbert."

"Famous last words, Canada," said Gilbert, "don't tempt the Gods of fate!"

Canada laughed, "I've danced with the devil on more than one occasion." He looked over his shoulder and smiled warmly at Gilbert, "I've pushed the boundaries that no country should push. I've done stupid things that should have killed me a million times before. Either someone up there is watching over me or someone down there wants to watch me fall apart at the seams."

"Canada…"

Canada shrugged as they made it to the harbor, "No point in dwelling on what's happened. Let's find a boat."

After half an hour of asking around, they finally met a man who was taking a shipment of scrap metal to the island nation. He was more than happy to take them over, in exchange for twenty lighter beads, "But if we get swamped by a sea monster, it's everyman for himself." said the scruffy old man as he counted the beads.

Gilbert became increasingly worried. '_Not only do I have to stop myself from puking all over the place, but I have to defend myself against a sea monster, too? Really?_'

Canada smiled, "We understand. We'll be back by dusk, is that right?"

The man nodded, "Yep. We sail at dusk, less likely to be spotted at night."

Canada frowned, "Spotted? Okay… We'll see you at dusk." He turned and began to walk away. Gilbert quickly followed.

"Was he serious about sea monsters?" Gilbert asked.

Canada shook his head, "No such thing as sea monsters. It's an old fisherman's joke. Nothing to worry about…" They walked into a pub and sat down at the bar. Canada ordered a bottle of the strongest drink they had and Gilbert a beer. The bartender came back with a bottle of scotch and a mug of beer.

Gilbert slowly drank his beer and watched Canada out of the corner of his eye. The Canadian seemed nervous about something.

"What's up, Canada?" He asked.

"I'm worried about what we find when we get to England." said Canada. He swallowed a mouthful of scotch and looked over at Gilbert. "That guy said that we sail at dusk so we won't be spotted. Why would we be spotted? And by what?"

Gilbert shrugged, "It can't be that bad, can it?"

Canada sighed and looked down at his drink, "Back when we were back in your world, France opened a link. He told me that Hunter's attacks have become more frequent and violent. He said that he's now taking countries and torturing them…" He bit his bottom lip and slowly swirled his drink in one hand. "Hunter takes great pleasure in making his victims watch and feel everything that happens to them. He's an expert at blood manipulation; he can pull the blood right out of a person if they have even the smallest of cuts. He can turn blood into a weapon."

Gilbert shuddered, "Creepy… How do you know anyway?"

Canada froze for a second, fear danced behind his eyes, "He… I just know okay?" He randomly looked around the bar, "I wonder if anyone knows what's happening in England."

Gilbert sighed and shook his head, "Sorry I asked…"

They didn't speak much after that. They just enjoyed their drinks and listened to the idle chatter of those around them. Most of it was useless chatter made only to fill the air, but one conversation between an elf and a dwarf caught their attention.

"Terrible things are happening in England, you know." said the dwarf as he gulped down his ale, "Horrendous stuff."

The elf nodded in agreement, "I can see why you moved away. A battle field like that is not good for anyone… I, myself, left as soon as England warned us that Hunter was going to set fire to our homes."

The dwarf shrugged, "Well, we're stubborn, but after Hunter himself showed up and blitzed us…"

The elf's eyes went wide, "He actually showed up? All by himself or were there Plagues too? What did he look like?"

"Just himself." grunted the dwarf, "He's pretty average in height, looks like he would be pretty slim if it weren't for all that bulky armor he wears. And he wears his gaudy, goat-horned helmet. You can't see the demon's eyes, but you can see his twisted mouth with it breaks into a sick grin."

The elf cringed, "Disgusting… No one seems to be profiting from this war, except for Hunter."

The dwarf shook his head, "Smasher Sullivan." He said, "That goblin's making a killing selling off jewelry made from the battle field."

Gilbert cringed at the thought. '_Who the hell would want battle field jewelry?_'

Suddenly, Canada stood up, "We're leaving now." He muttered.

Gilbert shrugged and followed him, "Where are we going now?"

"We're going to find Smasher." said Canada.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

They found Smasher on the corner of what was called 'Merchant's Way' to the locals. He was a short, skinny, grey colored thing with huge, gaping eyes. He wore a thick, brown coat and had a small table of goods set up in front of him. Gilbert didn't like the way Smasher would scan the crowd for potential customers.

Canada walked up to Smasher. The goblin looked up at Canada and nodded, "Hello, sir." He rasped, "What can I do for you on his fine day? Looking for a golden watch from the wrist of some nameless fool from the battlefields?" He gestured to a small assortment of watches on his table, "Or maybe you're after a present for a lady-friend?" He waved over an assortment of misshapen necklaces, bracelets and earrings.

Canada shook his head, "I have no need for things you took from dead people."

"Then we have no business, sir." hissed Smasher.

"Hey, I need some information." said Canada.

"No purchase, no information." growled Smasher.

While Smasher and Canada were arguing, Gilbert looked over the things on Smasher's table. There were rings, necklaces, bracelets, earrings, watches - the usual stuff. But on closer inspection of the jewelry, he noticed something horrifying. They were made from body parts. Dried guts made perfect lengths of string for bracelets and necklaces, bones and teeth made perfect gem stones and shrunken organs made wonderful ornaments for earrings -though most of the earrings were made from eyes.

Smasher noticed Gilbert staring at the earrings and chuckled, "You like those, boy? I noticed you seem to be interested in the eyes."

"Not really, I just-"

"Have a look at these ones." said Smasher. He pointed at a pair of bright green eyes, "These beauties would have gone to waste if I hadn't scooped them out of that girl's sockets."

Disgust ripped through Gilbert as he heard Smasher talk about harvesting the organs with such pride, "I don't want them." He said.

Smasher frowned, but nodded, "I see… Green is not your girl's colour? That's fine. How about these blue ones? Fresh from the corpse last night." He pointed to a pair of dazzling blue eyes that were an astonishing mix of sky blue and ocean blue and they just seemed to have that certain spark of life in them. It creeped Gilbert out.

Gilbert shook his head, "I don't want anything from here! How could you sell human body parts as jewelry?"

Smasher growled, he was about to say something when Canada cut him off, "Where did you get those eyes?"

Smasher chuckled, "Looks like I found something that sparked your interest after all." He picked up the earrings and placed them in his hand. "I found these things by chance actually… I was getting the hell out of England when he just fell from the sky and landed in a pile of scrap metal. The poor bastard fell off the back of some giant eagle. All that blood completely ruined his bomber jacket."

Canada's eyes went wide, "Bomber jacket? Was it brown?"

Smasher nodded, "Yep. I couldn't even salvage any other organs to make my lovely wears… Oh well, he's Grabber shit now."

"What colour was his hair?" asked Canada quickly, "Was he blond? Brunette? Who was he?

Smasher growled, "Who gives a shit if he had green hair? He's dead."

Canada began to tremble at the goblin's words. It worried Gilbert a lot. Why would he care about some glazed eyes?

"Hey, Canada, let's just go."

Canada ignored Gilbert completely. He was lost in his own thoughts. He shook his head and clenched his fists,"You're a liar." He whispered.

Smasher shook his head, "I'm no liar, sir. These eyes were plucked from the sockets of some wannabe hero on the battlefields of-"

"LIAR!" screamed Canada. He grabbed Smasher by his shirt and slammed him against the brick wall behind him, effectively knocking Smasher's table of goods to the ground. "HE'S _NOT_ DEAD! WHOSE EYES WERE THEY? TELL ME!"

"I'M NOT LYING!" yelled the goblin, "THOSE EYES BELONG TO A DEAD MAN WHO FELL OFF HIS BLOODY EAGLE AND IMPALED HIMSELF ON SOME TWISTED SCRAP METAL!"

Rage burned in Canada's eyes. He slammed the goblin into the wall repeatedly while screaming at him, "LIAR! WHERE DID YOU GET THEM? LIAR! LIAR! LIAR! LIAR! LIAR!"

Gilbert's eyes went wide and he looked around. The crowd of people didn't seem to give a damn that Canada was attacking someone in broad daylight. They just went about their business without even a second glance. '_Don't they even care?_' He looked back over at Canada and gasped in shock. The back of the goblin's head was smashed in, splattering the wall with blood and brain tissue, but Canada was still screaming and slamming the corpse into the wall.

He grabbed Canada's arm and tried to pull his arm away, "STOP IT, CANADA!" He cried, "HE'S ALREADY DEAD! JUST STOP IT!"

Slowly, Canada released Smasher's body and let it slide to the ground to rest in a puddle of its own blood. He shrugged off Gilbert's arm and bent down to pick up the eyes that had fallen out of Smasher's hand when he had grabbed him. He put them in his pocket. He slowly stood back up and smiled weakly at Gilbert, "Let's go." He started to walk back to the harbor.

Gilbert just stared at Canada with wide eyes and nodded slowly. '_What the hell? He just snapped over a pair of eye earrings. Okay, that was an understatement. He just killed someone and no one cared!_'

XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX

Once they were back at the harbor, they ended up sitting at the end of a pier, waiting for dusk. Both seemed too lost in their own thoughts to make any conversation. Eventually, though, Canada spoke, "I'm sorry you saw that."

"Why did you do it then?" asked Gilbert, his eyes glued to the water.

Canada smiled sadly and pulled the eye earrings out of his pocket, "Because after what Smasher said, I think these eyes belonged to America."

Gilbert's eyes went wide, "What?"

Canada nodded and put them away, "America has blue eyes and a pet eagle called Freedom. When America and Freedom are in the air they are in perfect sync. I've always been amazed at how America could fall off and Freedom would always catch him. The only explanation I can think of as to why Freedom didn't save America is that something went horribly wrong."

Gilbert nodded, "You still didn't have to kill him."

"But I wanted to." whispered Canada softly, "I felt that if I had let him live, then what he was saying would be true. America would be dead. But if I killed him, there was still a chance he'd be alive… I know it was stupid, but I couldn't help myself."

"Killing people never solved anything." muttered Gilbert.

"I beg to differ." said Canada, his eyes darkened, "In many cases, killing off a dictator or a tyrant that's suppressing a nation is what's best for the people. That bastard Hunter, for example… While he still breathes, everyone in my world will suffer. Hunter must die for the good of the world."

Gilbert sighed. He couldn't argue with that. He wanted Hunter to die, too. Canada shrugged and got up, "Come on. It's time to catch our boat."

Gilbert groaned and shook his head, "I hate boats. I hate them with a burning passion. If God wanted people to travel on water, he would have given us webbed feet and fins."

Canada chuckled, "You're a strange one, Gilbert."

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat:**So this will be the last chapter for a while, I have exams on and stuff… Please review.


	35. I'm On A Boat

**Shinigami-cat:** Well I hope you all like this. My exams are now done and I'm happy! The song used is _White Balloons_ by _Sick Puppies_… I OWN NOTHING!

**I'm On A Boat**

Gilbert ran to the side of the boat and hurled. They weren't even out of the harbour yet and he had already vomited twice. Sadly, his stomach was still churning, "Kill me…" He groaned.

Canada sighed and gently rubbed Gilbert's back, "You weren't kidding, were you?"

Gilbert glared at Canada with sunken eyes, "Why would I joke about this?" He felt bile start to bubble up in the back of his throat again. He shoved his face over the side of the boat and puked, even though he had nothing left in his stomach, "I hate my life…" He moaned.

Canada smiled and patted Gilbert's back, "Look at it this way- you can't vomit if you have nothing in you."

"I think I spewed my stomach lining."

Canada looked over the side of the boat and frowned at the transparent, yellow goo floating on the water's surface, "Okay, _now_ you can't throw up anything else."

"I'm pretty sure I could vomit my stomach if I tried." groaned Gilbert. He couldn't stand on his own legs anymore, they were shaking horribly and he was only just supporting himself with his arms. Canada sighed and picked up Gilbert bridal style, "What the hell are you doing?" cried Gilbert.

"I'm taking you to our cabin, so to speak." said Canada, "Well, it's more like a room with a pile of sheets in the corner." Gilbert nodded and leaned into Canada. It felt nice to be held in his arms. It felt nice to be held when you're sick.

He sighed contently and closed his eyes, "I still feel like crap."

Canada chuckled, "You look like crap."

"Shut up or I'll puke on you." grumbled Gilbert half-heartedly.

Canada smiled and walked to their cabin. It was pretty bad accommodation. There was a small pile of sheets in one corner, a bucket in another corner, walls stained with rust, floor covered in dirt and it was really cramped. He carefully placed Gilbert on the sheets and put the bucket next to his head, "Just in case you're sick later." He said.

Gilbert nodded and let himself go limp, "Thanks."

Canada nodded and sat next to him. He sighed and gently hummed to himself. It was a soft gentle tune, different from that creepy lullaby he usually hummed to himself. Gilbert tried to concentrate on the melody to distract himself from his violently churning stomach.

Unfortunately, the waves slowly began to beat harder against the boat. Gilbert's eyes went wide and he jumped up to grab the bucket. He tried to vomit, but he couldn't. He ended up dry heaving for about three minutes before he gave up, "Fucking sea."

Canada gently moved some hair out of Gilbert's eyes as he took the bucket away, "Maybe you should try going to sleep? We'll be there in a few hours."

Gilbert wrapped his arms around his stomach and shivered as he felt his stomach quiver, "I can't sleep."

Canada thought for a second before pulling Gilbert over so his head was on his lap, "Don't move me so quickly." groaned Gilbert, "What the hell are you doing anyway?"

Canada shrugged and gently ran his fingers through Gilbert's hair, "When I was little, France used to do this to make me feel better. I thought it might work. Are you uncomfortable?"

"If I move, I think I'll vomit again." deadpanned Gilbert.

"Sorry." muttered Canada. After that, they were silent. The only sounds were the sea and the creaks of the boat. Gilbert's stomach started quivering again and he felt like he was on the verge of spewing. After a while, Canada started to hum again.

Gilbert looked up at Canada, "What song are you humming? It's not something depressing like that other one, is it?"

Canada chuckled and brushed some hair behind his ear, "It's nothing like that… Do you want to hear it?"

"Anything to distract me." said Gilbert.

Canada smiled and started to softly sing.

_"I'm holding on to white balloons__  
><em>_Up against a sky of doom__  
><em>_Tell me you see them__Cause what's inside of me__  
><em>_Is invisible to most__  
><em>_Even in clear view__I'm sending out a signal to __  
><em>_The possibility of you__Cause right at this moment__  
><em>_I know you're connected to a part of me__  
><em>_That I don't even know myself__The changes in me __  
><em>_Are likely to be like the weather__  
><em>_Stormy and clear__  
><em>_Strength interfere bound together..."_

As Canada sang, he closed his eyes and gently ran his fingers through Gilbert's hair. It was really soothing. Gilbert liked Canada when he sang like that. It just seemed so natural the way the words fell from his lips. He closed his eyes and let Canada's words lull him away from reality.

_"But I'll break my silence__  
><em>_If I believe that you and me __  
><em>_Could ever be more than just__  
><em>_What's been behind us__I tried and left __  
><em>_I came and went__  
><em>_I got rejected out again__  
><em>_But no one believes me__  
><em>_I've worn a hundred faces of __  
><em>_The character of placements__  
><em>_And now nobody sees me__The changes in me__  
><em>_Are likely to be__  
><em>_Like the weather__  
><em>_Cloudy at best__Angels lift me__  
><em>_Are you with me?__  
><em>_I'm holding onto you __  
><em>_Like I'm holding on to white balloons__Carry me away __  
><em>_I hope that you don't break..."_

Gilbert couldn't help but feel a little drowsy. He could feel him losing his grip on reality and start to drift into his subconscious. The quivering in his stomach had eased.

_"Angels lift me __  
><em>_Are you with me?__  
><em>_I'm holding onto you __  
><em>_Like I'm holding on to white balloons__Carry me away __  
><em>_I hope that don't break__  
><em>_I hope that don't break__Don't break.__Cause what's inside of me__  
><em>_Is invisible to most__  
><em>_Even in clear view"_

Once he had finished singing, Canada stopped running his fingers through Gilbert's hair. Again, the room was filled with the sound of the creaking boat and the growl of the sea.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

The lack of rocking was the first thing that brought Gilbert out of his sleep, the second thing that woke him up was the fact that there was something warm under and around his torso. He slowly opened one eye cautiously and looked around. He was relieved that he was still in the same cabin as he was when he fell asleep, but when he looked down at what he was on both of his eyes snapped open in shock.

Somehow during the night, he had ended up lying entirely on top of Canada and Canada's arms were wrapped protectively around him. Gilbert's face went bright red with embarrassment. '_How the hell am I going to get out of here without waking him up?_'

Slowly, Gilbert tried to pull himself out from under Canada's arms, but as soon as he moved, Canada's grip tightened. Gilbert frowned. If the subtle approach wasn't going to work he would have to try something a little more direct...

"WAKE UP!"

Immediately, Canada's eyes shot open and he jumped up, dropping Gilbert back into his lap in the process. He looked down at Gilbert and chuckled nervously, "Um… Feeling better, Gilbert?"

Gilbert growled and got out of Canada's lap, "Why the hell were you hugging me in your sleep?"

Canada scratched the back of his head and shrugged, "Um… I didn't mean to? Oh, the boat's stopped moving. We must have arrived." He quickly got up and walked outside. Gilbert face palmed and followed Canada outside.

Gilbert couldn't tell what time it was, but he could assume it was midnight from the positioning of the moon. He walked over to the side of the ship where Canada was talking to the captain, "Good luck out there, boy." Said the man, "You and that kid brother of yours aren't going to survive long out there."

Canada chuckled, "He's not my brother. He's not even related to me."

The man raised an eyebrow, "Really? It's just odd to see someone look after someone who isn't related to them at all. Is he a family friend?"

"You could say that." said Canada, "Good luck with whatever it is you do." He swung his legs over the side of the boat and jumped off. His shoes crunched against the rocky beach below his feet.

Gilbert quickly walked over to the side of the boat and jumped down to where Canada was. He felt so much better now that his feet were on dry land, "I'm never getting on a boat again."

"Hopefully you won't have to." said Canada. He waved goodbye one last time to the captain before they started walking again.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

After an hour, they stopped in the ruins of a coastal town. They shared a loaf of instant bread as they thought about where to go next. Gilbert had suggested London, but Canada had shot down that idea. When Hunter started to attack, he destroyed all major cities, reducing them to rubble, "The best place to go to would be Kirkland manor."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow, "Kirkland? I used to know a guy back in my world called Arthur Kirkland. He had the biggest eyebrows in the world."

Canada chuckled, "Yeah, well, like all countries, we have human names. Mainly because it's unusual to be called England or Russia or New Zealand. Kirkland's just England's human last name. But with the world the way it is now, no one cares what your name is anymore."

Gilbert nodded, "I see… So, what's your human name?"

Canada shrugged, "It's not important." He started walking again, "No one calls me by my human name, anyway." Gilbert frowned, but decided not to press the matter any further. They still had a long way to go, but at least it wasn't that far anymore.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat:** Well I hope you all liked it. Please review!


	36. Hunter

**Shinigami-cat:** Hi again everyone! From the title I bet you can guess who will finally make an appearance… I OWN NOTHING!

**Hunter**

They started to walk along the back roads, passing burning ruins and corpses. The sight made Gilbert gag, but Canada said nothing. He just kept looking straight ahead, ignoring the dead.

"Is anyone going to bury the dead?" asked Gilbert.

"No point." said Canada, "The Plagues and Grabbers will end up eating them when they're hungry… Leaving nothing but bones…" He shivered at that thought, "Let's try and move to the countryside. More cover." With where they were going to agreed upon, they headed inland.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

They ended up in the forest of Dean, fog settled around their ankles. It was creepy, almost foreshadowing really. Gilbert didn't like it. '_I feel like behind every tree there's going to be a Grabber or a Plague._' He hesitantly gripped the handle of his sword, ready to attack if he needed to.

Canada looked over at Gilbert and sighed, "Relax, Gilbert. The majority of the Plagues should be wherever the major battles are taking place… But I guess it's good to practice caution."

Suddenly, a small tremor ripped through the ground. It might have been small, but it was enough to knock them both to the ground, "What the hell was that?" cried Gilbert.

Canada quickly got up, "I have no idea." Next, there was an explosion and a blinding light filled the sky. At that moment, a siren began to scream, almost defining them both, "What the hell was _that_?"

"You expect me to know?" growled Gilbert.

"Good point." agreed Canada. Lightening began to fill the air and explosions rocked the earth, causing both of them to fall from the vibrations again.

"Not good!" cried Canada, "Not good at all!"

"You think?" yelled Gilbert.

Canada quickly scrambled to his feet, "We have to get moving."

Gilbert was in agreement. They needed to find somewhere safe to wait out whatever this was. They ran as fast as they could.

Gilbert's eyes darted around the trees, he could feel panic sinking in. '_Shit! It feels like we're in a war zone!_' Screams began to fill the air, only fuelling Gilbert increasing anxiety. He was so freaked out he wasn't watching where he was going and tripped over a log, grazing his hand.

Canada stopped and pulled Gilbert to his feet, "Come on, Gil!" He ordered, "We have to keep moving!"

"I know that! I just-" Gilbert sentence was cut off when a huge fire ball ripped through the trees and hit the ground near them, sending fiery shrapnel everywhere. Canada quickly pushed Gilbert to the ground and jumped on top of him to shield him from the flames. After a few seconds, Canada jumped up and pulled Gilbert to his feet again.

"Let's go." He commanded. They quickly ran through the now smoldering forest, keeping close to each other so they wouldn't get separated in the smoke. Every now and then they could feel the heat from the fire licking at their heels, which only made them run faster.

They ran into a clearing and stopped dead in their tracks. In front of them was a dug-up war zone similar to images from WWII or the movie _300_. They could hear gunfire and see B-Plagues with battle axes and hammers storming towards what looked like people.

'_Okay… so this is what's happening… fun._' Thought Gilbert.

Canada bit his bottom lip and looked over at Gilbert, "I want you to stay here." He said.

"What?" Gilbert questioned with wide eyes, "Why the _fuck_ would I stay here? I mean, look at what's happening! I can help!"

Canada shook his head, "No, I want you to stay here. It's too dangerous out there. I'll be back." Without another word, Canada ran off into the battlefield, leaving Gilbert very much alone.

Gilbert sighed and sat down on a rock reluctantly, "Well… This sucks. First real war I've seen with my own eyes and I can't do anything." After a few seconds, he mentally slapped himself, "Since when did I start listening to him?"

He casually stood up and walked into the battle and started to kill B-Plagues left, right, and center. He didn't see why Canada had been so worried. He swiftly dodged the attacks of one or two and dove into a trench. Hopefully, this one didn't have Plagues in it.

Cautiously, he walked through the trenches, ready to attack when he heard a woman scream. He quickly looked above the trenches and saw a woman with long brown hair trying to fight off a B-Plague with a frying pan. He didn't understand why she didn't just run away, but after a few moments, he saw why. She was trying to protect someone who was unconscious on the ground.

Gilbert pulled himself out of the trench and charged at the B-Plague. "GET DOWN!" He yelled. The woman glanced over her shoulder and ducked when she saw Gilbert coming. Gilbert jumped and brought the sword down stabbing the B-Plague right through the head, instantly killing it. He looked back at the woman who was leaning over the man, obscuring their faces with her hair, "Get back to the trenches," ordered Gilbert, "I'll cover you."

The woman quickly pulled the man over her shoulder and ran back to the trench as fast as she could while Gilbert made sure they were safe. When they were back in the relative safety of the trench, the woman smiled at Gilbert. "Thanks so much for… Oh my God, _Prussia_?" She cried.

Gilbert tilted his head in confusion, "What?" He looked over the woman and probably felt just as shocked as she did. This woman was the spitting image of Elizaveta, "Holy shit! Liz!" He quickly looked down at the unconscious man that Elizaveta was carrying and gasped in shock. He looked just like Roderich, "Oh my God…"

The Elizaveta look-alike grabbed Gilbert and hugged him, "Prussia!" She cried, "Oh God, Prussia! How is this possible? Bah! Who cares! You're back!"

"I'm not Prussia." corrected Gilbert as he tried to pull himself away from the woman. "My name is Gilbert. I don't have time to explain but some stuff happened and I'm not in the right universe!"

Slowly, the woman moved back, "A different universe?" She asked. She sighed disappointedly, "Oh… So you aren't Prussia… How did you get here? I'm Hungary, by the way, and this is Austria." She gestured to the Roderich look-alike.

Gilbert smiled at Hungary. He didn't mean to make her upset, but he couldn't pretend he was someone he wasn't, "Nice to meet you both… Even if one of you is out cold. Have you seen Canada?"

Hungary shrugged, "Sorry, but I'm not sure who you're talking about."

"Blond hair, violet eyes, random hair curl." Gilbert described.

"Oh, Canada!" said Hungary, "I saw him running off to the right of here. He was leading some Grabbers into a small mine field."

"Thanks." said Gilbert. He quickly got up and started to walk down the trench. "Hopefully I'll see you two later."

Hungary smiled and waved, "Goodbye, Gilbert, and good luck!"

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

After searching for a few minutes, he spotted a familiar mop of blond hair. Gilbert smirked and quickly made his way over to the blond, "Hey, Canada."

Canada looked at Gilbert with a mix of anger and concern, "What part of 'stay still' don't you understand?" He quickly slammed his sword into the spine of a B-Plague. "This isn't your battle, Gilbert!"

Gilbert rolled his eyes and pulled Canada down to avoid getting hit with an axe, "Well, excuse me! I just saved Austria and Hungary from getting smashed!"

Canada's jaw dropped, "You met Austria and Hungary? You idiot! They probably thought you were Prussia!" He quickly jumped up and stabbed a Plague in the eye.

"Are we really going to argue about this right now?" snapped Gilbert as he jumped out of the way from a falling Plague carcass.

Canada sighed, "Fine. We'll talk about this later. Until then, stay alive!" Suddenly, a horrible grinding sound, mixed with the crackle of lightening filled the air. Canada and Gilbert looked up and gasped in shock. An island was slowly moving out of the clouds. The Bird Cage. Gilbert glanced over at Canada, who was trembling in fear.

"Run." He whimpered, "Run for your life!" Canada quickly turned and ran.

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. '_Um… that was… different?_' Suddenly, the shrill cry of a bird filled the air. The cry came from a giant black eagle. '_Oh crap…_'

Gilbert started to run, but he tripped over a B-Plague corpse and fell flat on his face, "My day cannot get any worse." He growled.

Just then, a sword made from a gleaming red metal impaled the ground next to his head, "I prefer my prey to face me before I kill them."

Gilbert's eyes widened and he slowly turned around. Standing over him was Hunter, adorned in a black, exoskeleton-like armor and a gaudy, goat-horned helmet which covered most of his face, but left a gap for his mouth to be seen. His skin was a grotesque transparent milky colour, blue veins could be seen pulsing under that flesh and his lips dark blue -almost black- giving the impression he was a frozen corps.

"Um… I'm guessing you're Hunter?" observed Gilbert nervously.

Hunter smirked, revealing his black gums and needle like teeth, "What a stupid question." He pulled his sword out of the ground and swung at Gilbert.

Gilbert gasped and quickly rolled out of the way and jumped to his feet, "I'll take that as a yes!" He easily blocked a few of Hunter's attacks.

Hunter took a step back and chuckled, "Impressive, boy. Most people would be dead by now… But I grow tired of this fight. I have bigger fish to fry." He muttered some words under his breath and pointed at Gilbert's hand.

Gilbert didn't understand what he was doing until it was too late. He could feel something crawling down his arm, under his skin. Suddenly a thin ribbon of blood shot out of his hand and wrapped around his neck, strangling him, "SHIT!"

Hunter laughed, "Stupid boy. Blood manipulation is my specialty. One cut and I can rip all the blood out of your body. I can even turn it into weapons. Do you like my dragon blood sword?" He casually swung his sword through the air.

Gilbert gasped for air as it was straggled out of him. He could feel his own blood cutting through his skin like razor wire. If he didn't black out soon, he would be dead. '_Damn it…_'

A rock flew through the air, hitting Hunter right in the jaw. He momentarily eased up on Gilbert, "WHO THREW THAT?" He roared.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" screamed Canada. He was standing a fair distance away from Gilbert and Hunter. He was trembling horribly, his eyes were filled with terror and he looked like he was going to faint at any moment, "I'M OVER HERE!" He screamed again, "DO YOU EVEN REMEMBER ME OR HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN LIKE EVERYONE ELSE?"

Hunter looked at Gilbert, then back to Canada. Psychotic laughter ripped through Hunter's throat, sounding more like a scream than anything else, "How could I forget Canada? I almost destroyed you the last time I saw you." He kicked Gilbert to the ground and chuckled, "Be grateful you have a country on your side or you would have been Grabber food by now."

Gilbert gasped for breath as the blood around his neck became liquefied once more. '_Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!_'

Hunter chuckled at Gilbert's struggle to breath and stepped over his body. His eyes were now fixed on Canada, his arms out stretched. "Canada." He cooed, "Come here, Canada. It's time to finish this."

Canada gulped, "Not today, Hunter." He quickly turned and ran for it.

Hunter growled in annoyance, "Bloody annoying when they run. Oh well, the hunt is half the fun." Hunter eagerly took chase, both of them disappearing into the battle.

"Shit." growled Gilbert as he slowly got to his feet. He couldn't believe what had just happened. He let Hunter, someone he knew Canada was deathly afraid of, run after Canada. He felt like such an idiot. Who knew what Hunter would do to him?

He started to run in their general direction, dodging attacks and blocking some along the way. Somehow, he ended up running back into the forest. He growled and ran his fingers through his hair. His heart was beating painfully in his chest. '_Shit! Where is he? He has to be here somewhere!_'

A scream rang through the forest sending a horrible, gut-wrenching fear through him.

"Please don't let that be Canada." He ran through the trees as fast as he could, and when he arrived, he shocked at the sight.

Sitting high up in a tree was a Feliciano look-alike, surrounded by a three hungry looking Grabbers. They were jumping up trying to grab his legs that were dangling just out of reach of their long tongues. '_Fuck! I don't need this! I need to find Canada!_'

"GERMANY!" screamed the Feliciano look-alike as he clung to the tree for dear life. A Grabber jumped and hooked its tongue around the look-alike's leg and started to pull. He screamed as he was yanked out of the tree, but managed to grab the branch with one arm.

"GERMANY!" He shrieked again, "GERAMNY!"

Gilbert had seen enough. He charged at the Grabbers. With no more than three swift motions he had beheaded all three of the ghoulish dogs. He looked up at the Feliciano look-alike. "Um… You okay there?"

"Are they dead?" He whimpered.

Gilbert nodded, "Yep. I got them all. You want to come down?"

"I can't." He sniffled, "The Grabber dislocated my ankle with its tongue."

Gilbert sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. He didn't have time for this. He needed to find Canada, "Okay, fine… Let go and I'll catch you."

"I can't." He whimpered.

"JUST FUCKING JUMP BEFORE A FUCKING B-PLAGUE COMES AND KILLS US BOTH!" Screamed Gilbert. The Feliciano doppelganger squeaked and fell out of the tree. Gilbert dove and caught the trembling Italian in his arms, "You okay?"

The Italian nodded and looked up at Gilbert with wide eyes, "Prussia? Oh God, Prussia!" He cried out as he wrapped his arms around Gilbert's neck. "Did Grandpa Roma tell you how to get back? I'm so happy! Germany will be so glad to see you and so will Spain and France and everyone else!"

Gilbert sighed and gently placed the Italian on the ground. "Look. I'm not Prussia." He said sternly, "My name is Gilbert."

The doppelganger's jaw dropped, "Ve? But you have to be! You look just like him!"

"Well, I'm not." said Gilbert, "Have you seen Canada and Hunter run by here? I really need to find them."

The Italian shook his head, "Sorry… I don't… Are you sure you're not Prussia?"

"Is the Pope catholic?" asked Gilbert sarcastically.

"He was." muttered the Italian, "He's dead now…"

"Oh… Anyway, I need to find Canada. Hopefully I'll see you around sometime." Said Gilbert. He turned and started to run.

"Italy!" He called to Gilbert, "My name is Italy!"

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

He wasn't sure how long he was searching, or how far away from the battlefield he now was.

"CANADA!" He called, "CANADA!"

But he got no reply. He ended up leaning against a tree with his head in his hands. His heart was racing painfully in his chest. '_Shit… Where is he? He can't be far can he? Did Hunter take him somewhere? Why did he distract Hunter like that? He knew he would get chased… Please, be alive._'

He gulped and started searching again, the sun was just starting to rise, "CANADA!" He called, "IF YOU CAN HEAR ME, SAY SOMETHING! ANYTHING, PLEASE!" He was concentrating so much on trying to find Canada, he wasn't watching where he was going and fell down a steep slope and landed head first against a pile of rocks. He groaned in pain as his vision began to blur and the sounds around him started to soften. "Fuck…" His eyes rolled into the back of his head as he lost conscious.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat:** Yeah… please review.


	37. Bruises and Scars

**Shinigami-cat:** Well I hope you are all well! I've developed a cold… I know… fun huh? Anyway… I OWN NOTHING!

**Bruises and Scars**

Gilbert's legs felt heavy and his body felt sluggish. Where he was was dark and unnatural. He felt like he was in purgatory. He couldn't open his eyes, but he could hear everything around him like static in the radio.

"Is he awake yet?" asked a heavily accented French voice.

"Get the bloody hell out of surgery, frog!" hissed a British voice, "He fractured his skull and I'm just finishing up the stitches."

'_What the hell is that?_' Gilbert thought. '_What happened? Where am I?_'

"But… Why does he look like him?"

"Like I know everything! Piss off, frog! Go on! Get out!"

'_Shut up, Arthur…_' Thought Gilbert. '_Leave Francis alone… Wait a second… Arthur and Francis? WHAT?_'

"Fine, I'll go…" muttered the French voice, "Just give him something to help him sleep, okay?"

"Fine. Just get the fuck out, you wanker." growled the British voice. Gilbert could feel something like an oxygen mask press against his face, a rush of air and then everything felt numb.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Gilbert groaned and slowly opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was a cream coloured ceiling dotted with grime. '_What the hell happened?_' He slowly sat up, leaning on his elbows. The sudden elevation caused his vision to blur and his head to start swimming. '_Fuck…_'

He sighed and laid down again. He quickly glanced around the room, seeing a few makeshift hospital-like beds lined up against the walls, bed side tables with bottles of pills, and even the straps used to restrain the more psychotic patients were attached to the sides of some of the beds. He concluded that he was in some kind of hospital. With a heavy sigh, Gilbert decided to try and get back to sleep to try and eliminate his headache. He was almost asleep when someone started shouting.

"Bloody hell! That stupid wanker ran off again!" Growled a familiar British accent. Gilbert opened his eyes and almost screamed. Standing in front of him was Arthur-but-not-Arthur. He looked just like Arthur down to the giant eyebrows, but he was older. The Arthur look-alike saw that Gilbert was awake and sighed, "Okay, I'll keep this simple. I'm England and you're obviously not Prussia. You don't have that stupid eagle tattoo on your neck. I know, I've checked. So, who are you and have you seen an idiot walk by?"

Gilbert's eyes went wide. So this was Canada's dad, an alternate version of Arthur Kirkland. That explained the whole _Kirkland Manor_ thing. "Um… I'm Gilbert. I'm from a parallel universe. Where the fuck am I."

Before England could answer, the sound of something shattering from another room made them both jump, "Found that idiot." hissed England. He walked out of the room and quickly came back with a man with blond hair and a bandage wrapped around his eyes. He looked just like Alfred. "Bloody idiot! Stay in bed until your bloody eyes grow back!"

"Come on, England!" whined the American, "The hero needs to get out there to save the day!" He pulled himself out of England's grip and walked into a wall.

England face palmed and grabbed the American by the ear, "You'll fall off your bloody eagle again, America!" snapped England, "And when that happens, I'm not going to drag your mutilated carcass back here!"

"Ouch! Stop it!" yelped America, "That hurts!"

"Then you'll think twice before trying to engage Hunter in a dog fight!"

America pouted, "But the hero needs to get revenge for what Hunter did to Freedom!"

"You're talking in third person again, you twat." hissed England. He led America over to an empty bed and pushed him onto it before proceeding to tie him to it with leather straps. The whole thing was highly amusing to Gilbert, "Now you're not leaving this bloody bed again until you can either use sonar to move around or your eyes grow back!"

"But I'll get bored." whined America, "The hero needs company!"

"Talk to Gilbert!" Snapped England before storming out of the room.

When he was gone Gilbert took a moment to assess the situation; he was in a room with America, this universe's version of Alfred. The last time he had seen Alfred, he had outed him as a cutter in front of the whole school. Naturally, he didn't want to be anywhere near him. But he was happy that America was alive. Now Canada wouldn't be so upset.

A horrible wave of fear washed over him. '_Shit! I still don't know where Canada is!_' His heart started to beat painfully in his chest and his head started to throb painfully. '_Fuck…_'

America seemed to grow tired of the silence, "Hello? Gilbert? Are you really there or are you one of England's fairy friends?"

"Call me a fairy again and I'll rip out your eyes out! Oh, wait, someone beat me to it." snapped Gilbert as he clutched his aching head. He wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone.

America grinned, "Cool. Are you German? I can kind of hear it in your accent. Do you think you could undo these straps? England means well, but he's a total idiot. I can move around just fine."

Gilbert frowned and shook his head, not realizing that America couldn't see him. "Okay, firstly, I'm Prussian. Secondly, you walked into a fucking wall! Thirdly, how the hell can your eyes grow back?"

America shrugged, "I'm a country. I don't get hurt the same way humans do. Speaking of which, why are you here?"

Gilbert frowned and looked down at his hands. "Well… I um… I was fighting when Hunter tried to kill me, but Canada… He distracted him and I…" A wave of sorrow and regret washed over him, forcing him to breathe sharply, "I tried to find him… But I lost him…"

America nodded slowly,"So you're saying Hunter almost killed you? Dude, I can't believe you're still alive."

"… You missed the part about Canada." deadpanned Gilbert.

"Canada…?" muttered America. Suddenly he gasped, "Canada! He's back? Shit, man! I thought he was never coming back! What the hell happened? You said Hunter and him were fighting again? Fuck! Where is Canada? Is he alive?"

"I don't know!" snapped Gilbert in frustration, "I knocked myself out before I could find him!" He hated himself. What if something had happened to Canada and he was lying dead in some ditch? The thought terrified him. If Canada was gone… It was just like Matthew all over again.

"Shut the bloody hell up!" snapped England as he walked back into the room.

"But Canada might be dead!" cried America.

England rolled his eyes and smacked America in the head, "Shut up, twat. I have no time for your stupidity! Seventy or so people are dead, twice as many are seriously injured and don't get me started on how low our resources are!"

"But Canada!" cried America once more.

"Canada is with the frog!" screamed England, his face now red with anger, "So stop bitching and stay still!" He turned to Gilbert who was now freaking out slightly at the raging Brit.

"_You_," He growled, "follow me."

Gilbert gulped and quickly got up, but as soon as he did, his head started pounding and his vision went blurry again, "Fuck." He hissed, "What happened to me?"

"You fractured your skull." Said England simply, "Nothing a few stitches and some powerful antibiotics can't fix. Now move it." Gilbert nodded and slowly followed England out of the room, stumbling slightly as he struggled to keep his balance.

Once they were out in the hall, England sighed and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. Gilbert nervously played with the hem of his shirt, "Um… So what's up?"

England frowned and crossed his arms, "How did you get here?"

"Um… magic." muttered Gilbert, "It was an accident, really. Some stuff happened and then I ended up here… Canada's been helping me out… Making sure I don't die and stuff… What happened to him?"

England sighed and started to walk down the hall, "He's fine. He's still alive. Let me guess… You think that I'll just magically click my fingers and you'll go back to your own universe? Was that the plan?"

Gilbert nodded, "Something like that, I guess…"

England's eye twitched ever so slightly, "Well… That's just… Bullocks. Like I don't have enough to deal with at the moment!"

"It's not like I wanted all this to happen either!" growled Gilbert. He leaned against the wall and sighed, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Fine." sighed England, "What do you want to know?"

"Um, earlier… I'm guessing you were stitching my head up or something…" Gilbert muttered, "Anyway, I heard a familiar voice…"

"The frog." said England. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, "Okay, then… As you've realized by now -or at least I've hoped you've realized- there are copies, so to speak, of people you know. If the frog you know is a blond, flirtatious, French wanker, then it's probably someone you knew."

Gilbert nodded slowly, "So does that mean that I might meet a version of my _bruder_ here?" He asked hopefully.

England shrugged, "Perhaps… Is your brother blond, blue-eyed, strict, and German?"

Gilbert's eyes widened and he nodded, "Ja! That sound like him."

"You should stay away from him for a while." suggested England, "Germany has enough to deal with without finding out that there's someone that looks and acts like his brother around here."

'_Oh…_' Thought Gilbert sadly. '_I guess that's a good idea… I mean he isn't technically my brother, right? He's Prussia's brother… But it would be awesome to see what Ludwig would look like when he's older._'

England looked at Gilbert's sad expression and felt his heart melt slightly for the boy, "So, um… How did you get here?"

"An accident." said Gilbert again, "It was all my fault, too… Where's Canada? You said with the 'frog', who I assume is Francis in my world, but is France in your world… Damn that's so confusing. It sounded so much better in my head… Anyway, Canada is with France right?"

England shrugged, "Well, France said that Canada wanted to see that bloody polar bear of his… So he's probably at the stables. Follow me."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

England led Gilbert through several winding passageways and through multiple rooms. As they walked, Gilbert noticed different people, many he didn't recognize and some he did, but they were all bandaged up and covered in wounds. He tried his best not to notice the looks that some people were giving him.

He kept his head down and followed England as closely as he could. '_Shit… Do I look that much like Prussia? Who the fuck am I kidding? I look just like him._'

After a while, they came to a large wooden door. England quickly turned around to face Gilbert and frowned deeply. "Okay, I'm not going to lie to you. Canada is in pretty bad shape. His rib cage was shattered and he got stabbed in the throat so he won't be able to speak that well."

"_What_?" cried Gilbert in shock, "How the hell-?"

"Hunter." interrupted England darkly. He pushed open the door, "I have to go back and check on America. God knows if he's managed to break out of those bloody restraints and walked out a window… again. You'll be fine on your own, right?"

Gilbert nodded, "Sure." He walked into the stables and closed the door behind him.

The stables seemed like a regular horse stable, but for giant horses. There were huge piles of hay, large oversized shovels and other barn equipment. This made Gilbert slightly uneasy. Who knew what kinds of animals were living in here? He cautiously walked over to a stable and looked inside where a giant eagle was snoozing in an oversized nest.

'_Must be Freedom._' thought Gilbert.

He looked into the other ones and was surprised, but not shocked, at the exotic array of animals; dragons, griffons, giant birds, a three headed dog, an oversized bull, horses with six legs, a couple of bears, and finally a polar bear.

Kumajirou was curled up on a bed of hay in his giant form while Canada was lying against him. He had thick bandages around his chest, dotted with blood. A bandage was taped to his throat and his skin was extremely pale. He even had dark circles under his eyes.

Gilbert cautiously walked over to Canada, his heart heavy with guilt, "Canada?"

Canada looked up at Gilbert and smiled, "Hey." He muttered. His voice came out as scratchy, rough and growly, "I'm glad Hunter didn't kill you."

Gilbert smiled half-heartedly and sat down in next to Canada, patting Kuma as he did so, "I'm sorry I didn't listen to you." He apologized, "If I did, Hunter wouldn't have gotten you… I'm so sorry."

"That's fine." rasped Canada, "Hunter's starting to become soft. This is nothing compared to what he used to do." He started to cough violently. When he was done, he wiped droplets of blood onto the bandages on his chest. "He stopped after he bit out my throat and turned my rib cage into a swinging door."

Gilbert's jaw dropped in shock, "He did _what_? How can you be so casual about this? What if he had killed you? How the hell did you even survive that?" He sighed and shook his head, "You should have just let him kill me. If he did, then you wouldn't be like this…"

"Don't." growled Canada as he slowly sat up, wincing in pain as he did so. Once he was sitting upright, he grabbed Gilbert's arm and looked into the albino's eyes with his intense violet ones, "Don't ever say that. I promised you that I would protect you." Another violent coughing fit wracked through his body.

Gilbert sighed and gently patted Canada's back. "I know… But sometimes you need to let others protect you, too."

"I guess…" rasped Canada, "So, have you met anyone yet? Besides Hungary and Austria, that is."

"I met Italy." said Gilbert, "Then I met England and America… But I think I heard France… Does he look like Francis? You know that guy you saw me with at that coffee shop once?"

Canada smiled and nodded, "Yeah. France looks like Francis. He told me that America was still alive. Pretty awesome, huh?"

Gilbert nodded in agreement, "Yeah, and I heard that Germany looks like Ludwig. I wouldn't mind meeting him some time."

"If you've met Italy, then Germany probably knows about you." said Canada. He closed his eyes and leaned against Kuma, "Let's deal with this tomorrow, okay? I'm too tired right now."

"Yeah." said Gilbert, "You've probably lost a hell of a lot of blood." He leaned against Kuma and sighed. Even though he was wide awake and not remotely tired, he just couldn't bring himself to pull himself away from Canada.

Canada smiled, "Yeah, probably." After a while, Canada was sound asleep against the warmth that Kuma was generating.

Gilbert smiled and gently brushed some hair out of Canada's face. He couldn't understand how anyone, demon or not, could do something so horrific to Canada. It was at that moment that he made a decision. '_I don't care if England finds a way to send me back home. I'm not leaving until I have Hunter's cold, lifeless heart on a platter. I won't let Hunter hurt him again._'

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat:** Yay! America's alive! Gilbert's okay! Canada's… not dead… Please review.


	38. You're Not My Bruder

**Shinigami-cat:** Well many people have been wondering what Germany's reaction to Gilbert will be. Well wonder no more people, because here it is… I OWN NOTHING!

**You're Not My Bruder**

Gilbert woke up to something smooth and damp pressing against his face. He was face to face with Kuma, now in miniature size, "Who are you?" He asked.

Gilbert sighed and poked the bear, "Gilbert." He sat up and stretched. He assumed he had fallen asleep next to Canada when Kuma was still a giant polar bear. Gilbert looked around and frowned, "Hey Kuma… Where's Canada?"

"Getting food." said Kuma. He walked over to a large ceramic bowl and sat down next to it, "Food."

Gilbert sighed and stood up, "So, is he getting you food or is he getting food for himself? Be more specific."

"Me." sighed Kuma. He climbed into the bowl and rested his head on the rim, "Feed me."

"I don't have any food." said Gilbert. He scratched the back of his head and felt a series of little flaky, scab like bumps on the back of his head. It took a moment for him to realize that they were stitches, "Right… Later, Kuma. I'm going to find Canada."

He walked out into the stable and bumped straight into someone, "Shit, sorry." He muttered, not looking up.

"Ja, it's fine." mumbled a tired and familiar voice.

Gilbert's eyes went wide as he looked up at who he bumped into; tall, tank, slick back blond hair and bright blue eyes. This was Germany, this universe's version of Ludwig. Gilbert's mind was racing, he didn't know what to do, so he did the first thing that came to his mind.

"WEST!" He cried as he hugged Germany, "Holy shit! You're so fucking tall!"

"Get off of me." growled Germany as he pushed Gilbert away, "Italy told me that there was someone who looked like Prussia sleeping in the stables. I was just wanted to see if the rumours were true." He turned and started to walk away.

Gilbert pouted and started to follow Germany, "Yeah, I'm Gilbert. I'm from another world."

"Good for you." hissed Germany coldly, "I don't care."

"Oh, come on." whined Gilbert childishly, "Don't be unawesome. I haven't seen my little bro in months!"

"And I haven't seen Prussia in almost a century." growled Germany, "What's your point?"

Gilbert sighed. He could tell that Germany was pissed, but he assumed that it was because of how stressful the war with Hunter was going. "Calm down, West. I just wanted to talk to you because I thought it would be awesome to talk to someone who is technically my little bruder."

Germany stopped walking and clenched his fists, "Bruder? Your bruder?" He turned to Gilbert and glared dangerously at him, "Let's make one thing clear, _Gilbert._ You are _not_ my bruder. You don't share his memories. You don't share his scars. You don't even have the same tattoo as him! You are nothing but a poser. You don't belong here. Get back to your own world, where you belong."

Gilbert was stunned. He didn't expect that from Germany. He thought that the German would be happy to see him, not pissed and angry. He looked away from Germany's intense stare, but could still feel his eyes burning into him, "Oh…" He whispered, mainly to himself, "Sorry… I didn't realize… I just thought it would be, you know… cool to hang out and stuff… I'll just… go wait for Canada to come back with Kuma…"

He started to walk back to where Kuma was when the doors to the stable opened up and a slightly hyper Italian walked in, "Ve, Germany!" He called as he skipped over to Germany, immediately latching onto the blond's arm.

Germany blushed slightly, but made no move to remove Italy from his arm, "Italy, please let go."

Italy pouted and shook his head, "No. If I do that, you'll run off again and leave me alone with England! He's so scary!"

Gilbert chuckled, '_Aw, so cute. Just like Ludwig and Feliciano back in my world… I wonder if they are lovers._'

Suddenly, Italy spotted Gilbert and knocked him over in a crash tackle hug, "Gilbert! I never got to thank you for saving me!"

Gilbert chuckled and calmly pushed Italy away, "Hey, no problem. I see your ankle is all better now."

Italy sat next to Gilbert and nodded happily, "Ve, Germany popped it back in place when he found me. I just had to stay off it for a few hours and now I'm good as new." He flexed his ankle for emphasis, "But what about you? Did you find Canada?"

Gilbert frowned and shook his head. "No… But a few hours ago I found him… Hunter could have killed him… I should have been there for him…"

"But what could you have done?" growled Germany, "Hunter is stronger than you. More powerful then you. He can crush you like a bug without even trying."

Italy sighed sadly, "Germany… Please don't do this now…"

"Why not?" snapped Germany, "That _thing_ shouldn't even be here! He should be back in his own world! That freak should just get out of here!"

Gilbert's jaw dropped in shock. He never once thought that Ludwig, no matter what universe he was in would ever call him a thing or a freak, "A freak?" He repeated, "You think I'm a freak? America's growing himself a new set of eyes, there are zombie like things running around outside, magic, a fucking flying island, personified countries out and about and you have the nerve to call me a_ freak_?" He stood up and walked over to Germany. When he was standing right in front him he spat in his face.

"I knew you wouldn't be like my brother. My brother would never call someone a freak because of their appearance."

Germany wiped the spit off his face and shoved Gilbert back, "Don't talk to me like you're my brother."

"Well, stop acting like a little kid and I wouldn't have to!" snapped Gilbert.

Germany growled and raised his fist ready to strike but Italy grabbed his arm and shook his head. Italy softly whimpered, "Ve, please no fighting. Not now, please? We do enough of that on the battlefield… I don't want anyone to hurt each other if we don't have to…"

Germany glared at Gilbert one last time before turning and storming out the door. Gilbert growled and shook his head, "What is his problem?"

Italy smiled half-heartedly, "Don't take it so personally, Gilbert. Germany's just stressed. The last thing he expected was for someone like you to turn up… This might even be good for him."

"What do you mean?" asked Gilbert.

Italy shrugged, "Well… ever since Prussia died he hasn't been the same. He's been more distant and this war isn't helping him." With that, he skipped off after Germany.

Gilbert shook his head and walked back to where Kuma was still lying in his food bowl. He looked up at Gilbert with large eyes, "Food?"

"Not yet." said Gilbert. He sat down next to Kuma and patted his fur, "Canada will be back soon with your food."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

After his rather unpleasant encounter with Germany, Gilbert ended up waiting for Canada to come back with food for Kuma. After a few more minutes, Canada was back with a few fish. Kuma jumped out of his food bowl and let Canada put the fish in, "Sorry, there aren't that many." He said, his voice still scratchy but not as harsh as the previous night, "I had a hard time sneaking out to get to the river."

"Why did you go to the river?" asked Gilbert.

"They don't have any fish around." said Canada casually. He sat down next to Gilbert and sighed. "So… Get into any trouble while I was gone?"

"I think Germany hates my guts." said Gilbert simply. He leaned against his knees and looked over Canada. He seemed a lot better than he did last night; his skin was still pale but he had some colour in his skin, the bags under his eyes seemed less noticeable and he didn't have as many bandages on his chest or neck anymore. He was really starting to dislike the seemingly supernatural healing powers of countries.

Canada sighed, "Let me guess, some stuff was said and there was something about not being brothers thrown in?"

"Something like that." muttered Gilbert.

Canada face palmed, "Gilbert…"

"Hey, he was the one being an asshole." snapped Gilbert, "He had no reason to call me a freak!"

"I know." said Canada, "He didn't mean anything by it, Gil. I know he didn't."

"Then why did he call me that?"

"Why did you say you hated me when you first saw me?"

"Because," said Gilbert, "you looked just like Matthew… Oh I see… It's just like that, is it?"

Canada nodded, "Yep. He misses his brother and it hurts him to see someone so similar, yet so different walking around."

Gilbert smiled slightly, "Well, speaking of brothers, what did you do with America's eyes?"

"I gave them back." said Canada happily, "He was really happy to get them back, but pissed when England said that they looked ugly."

Gilbert laughed, "Kesesesesesesese! Sounds like something he would say!"

Canada smiled, "It's interesting how you can say such things when you technically don't know any of them."

Gilbert tilted his head in confusion, "What are you talking about? You're the one that told me that it didn't matter which universe someone came from, because deep down all the basic things that make us up are always the same. So even if the names are different or the ages or our history we'll always be the same person… So to speak."

Canada's eyes go wide, but only for a second. A small smile graces his lips, "Wise words." He slowly got to his feet with a small groan of pain, "Come on, Gilbert. France said he found a spare room for us to stay in."

Gilbert nodded and followed Canada out of the stables. As they walked down a few halls, Gilbert couldn't help but notice the way Canada was walking, if you could call it walking; he was sort of limping slightly and he had one arm firmly wrapped around his bandaged chest. It was obvious that he was in pain, but he didn't want to show it.

Gilbert sighed inwardly. '_Canada… Why do you do this to yourself? I know you're a country, but you must be in pain. It's not like you're a zombie or something. Why are you brushing it off like it's nothing? Are you trying to protect me or something? That seems like something you would do._'

Canada pushed open a door and walked inside, Gilbert quickly followed. They were in a small room with a mattress pressed up against the far wall, a thick blanket folded neatly on top, a few pillows next to the blanket, and a window placed in the cold stone walls cast a shadow over the slightly dusty floor.

Gilbert sighed, "I guess we'll be sleeping together again, then?" Honestly, he didn't really care anymore. There wasn't a lot of space so it was only natural that there wouldn't be enough bedding for everyone to sleep alone.

"I guess so." said Canada.

Suddenly, the door opened and a familiar Frenchman walked in, "Canada, it's time to change your bandages." He looked over at Gilbert and smiled sadly, "Bonjor. I'm France and you would be?"

Gilbert smiled knowingly at France, "Gilbert. It's nice to meet you, France."

France nodded and turned his attention back to Canada, "Come on. Off with your old bandages and on with the new ones."

Canada glanced over at Gilbert, "Um… I'd rather head back to the hospital wing to do this…"

France shook his head, "Not possible. America's running around while England's trying to stop him from hurting himself."

Canada frowned but nodded, "Fine…" He carefully pulled the bandage off his neck, ready for France to put on another one.

Gilbert gasped at what he saw; there was a nasty open wound on his neck, blood vessels were clearly quivering through the muscle tissue and the skin around the wound was a gross milky yellow colour, it was more than likely some kind of infection. France quickly pulled a cloth out of his pocket and gently dabbed away at the infection before slapping a band aid on it.

"Now the other one." said France.

Canada bit his lip nervously, "Papa… Please, not here… I don't want Gilbert to see."

"Calm down, Birdie." reassured Gilbert, "It's not going to be that bad, right? I mean it can't be any worse than a Plague, right?"

"He's right, Canada." said France soothingly, "Besides, he would have found out eventually right?"

Canada nervously shifted slightly, but reluctantly started to undo the bandages around his chest. France smiled and carefully helped. Gilbert gulped and bit his lip at the sight; skin peeled and ripped away revealing patches of ribcage, parts of his lung could be seen as he slowly breathed in and out and some puss and black gunk congealed around the edge of the open wound. Once again France quickly cleaned it up and helped Canada rebadge himself.

Once he was done, he kissed Canada's fore head, "Now get better. You're no good to anyone injured."

Canada smiled and nodded, "Yes, Papa."

France smiled at Canada and turned to leave, but before he left he gave Gilbert a look. It wasn't a look that was angry or sad, but a look Francis had given him many times back in his own universe when he knew that someone was in trouble. It was a look Francis only ever gave him or Antonio. A look shared among friends.

Gilbert gave him a nod of acknowledgement. France nodded in return and walked out of the room. When he was gone, a heavy silence filled the room. Canada was nervously fiddling with his hair.

After a while, Gilbert broke the silence with a question, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want you to worry." muttered Canada, "Look, it's no big deal. I'll be fine in a few days."

"No big deal?" growled Gilbert, "Most of your skin's been ripped off like wrapping paper!" He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration, his eyes fell on the mattress, "Lie down."

Canada raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"I said lie down, Canada!" snapped Gilbert.

"I'm fine, Gilbert." said Canada, "I don't need to-"

"Don't give me that bullshit!" snapped Gilbert. He grabbed Canada by the arm and pulled him down onto the mattress.

Canada yelped in pain when he landed, "Why did you do that?"

"I don't care if you're a country." growled Gilbert, "I don't care if you heal faster than a normal human. I don't care if you say you're fine. I know you're not. I know you're in pain, so just lie down and stay there. It'll take longer to heal if you keep moving."

Canada sighed, "Gilbert…"

"No buts." said Gilbert. He sat down next to Canada and forcefully pressed his hand against the Canadian's stomach. "Now stay there until you're completely fixed and don't have your lungs hanging out all over the place.

Canada sighed, "Okay, firstly, my lungs are still very much inside me. Secondly, this is why I didn't want to take them off in front of you! I knew you would make a big deal out of nothing."

Gilbert rolled his eyes and gently touched Canada's bandaged chest. Canada gasped in pain, "A big deal out of nothing?" asked Gilbert, "Don't lie."

Canada pouted, "Fine, I won't get up. I'll stay here until I wither away and die."

"So melodramatic." said Gilbert. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, "You're acting like West when he gets sick." He smiled fondly at the memory, "He had the worst cold; crazy high fever, couldn't walk in a straight line, coughing up snot, shivering uncontrollably but he still insisted he was fine and wanted to go to school."

Canada chuckled, "Sounds like him… Okay, I see your point."

"Good." said Gilbert. He slowly ran his fingers over his stitches and frowned, "What was that black stuff? It sure as hell wasn't puss."

"Just an infection." said Canada casually, "Nothing that bad."

"You know I don't believe you when you say that, right?"

Canada smiled and looked up at Gilbert, "I know."

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat:** Hope you all liked that! Please review!


	39. S Plague

**Shinigami-cat: **Sorry it took so long to update. I lost my USB, and then I ran into a door, pulled something in boot camp, stabbed myself with a pencil and all that crap… On a lighter note I was able to draw a couple of rough concept drawings of Plagues. I posted them on my deviantart account. If you want to check them out there's a link to it on my profile page… I OWN NOTHING!

**S-Plague**

With Canada staying put until his wounds had at least scabbed over Gilbert decided to have a look around the place. "Don't get lost." Said Canada. "And don't pick a fight with Germany."

"I'll stay away from him." Said Gilbert as he laced up his shoes. "Who knows I might get France to give me a tour if I can find him."

"He'd like that." Said Canada happily. He sighed and rolled onto his side looking up at Gilbert. "Have fun."

"Will do." Said Gilbert. He walked out the door and gently closed it behind him. There weren't many people out in the hall. Just a few going about their business, looking all official and important.

After a few minutes he turned a corner and saw Austria and Hungary were talking to each other, holding hands. Suddenly a small light bulb appeared over Gilbert's head. '_Oh right! They're dating! That totally explains why Canada thought that Elizaveta and Roderich would be a good match._'

Hungary spotted Gilbert and smiled warmly. "Gilbert! So good to see you! This is Austria. I know you two have already met but how about you to meet while you're both conscious."

Gilbert chuckled and walked over to the couple. He was slightly pissed that Austria was slightly taller than him, but he could it slide for now. "Sup Specs? Have a head ach? Concussion? Brain haemorrhage? Stop me when I get close."

Austria rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "You were right Hungary… This kid is just like Prussia."

Hungary giggled, while nodding wildly. "Yep!"

Gilbert laughed and slapped Austria playfully on the back. "Hey don't be such a downer Specs! I was just wondering if you're okay."

Austria sighed and nodded. "Yes I am fine. The worst I got was a mild concussion. Nothing to worry about."

Hungary rolled her eyes. "A mild concussion? Need I remind you that you got shot with an arrow on the way back to The Burrow?"

Gilbert chuckled. "Where did he get shot?"

Austria blushed madly. "None of your concern."

"He got shot in the butt." Said Hungary with a chuckle.

Gilbert started to laugh uncontrollably. "Shot in the ass? Seriously? Keseseseseseseseses! Prissy little Mozart got shot in the ass! Keseseseseseseseses! That's too funny! Who shot him? Was it a Plague? If so I'm giving that thing a medal!"

"Friendly fire." Muttered Austria in frustration. "Italy needs more practice."

At that comment Gilbert had to lean against the wall to stop himself from falling over he was laughing so hard. "Keseseseseseseseses! Italy shot you in the ass! You got shot in the ass by Italy! Keseseseseseseseses! Oh man… I can't think of a word to describe this situation right now!"

Austria rolled his eyes, clearly not amused with the situation. "Well if we are done with the formalities here I need to discuss battle strategies with Germany." He turned and walked down the hall.

Hungary chuckled and sighed. "He's so silly sometimes… So have you met up with Germany yet?"

"Yep." Said Gilbert. "He almost punched me."

Hungary nodded knowingly. "I see… Don't worry about it. He'll get over it eventually. See you later." She practically sang as she ran off after Austria.

A small frown tugged at Gilbert's lips. '_I wonder if Liz and Roddy are dating back home? I wonder if anyone is still looking for me? I mean it's been months. I should stop think about that stuff._'

He continued his walk down the never ending hallway until he came to a large window. Through the glass he saw that it was a cloudy day, with what seemed like a nice breeze blowing through the trees outside. He smiled slightly and opened it. He came face to face with a red rock wall, illuminated by glowing plants. "The hell?" Muttered Gilbert in confusion.

"It's an illusion." Said a softly spoken voice.

Gilbert turned to see a Japanese man standing near him. He looked a lot like Kiku. "Cool." Muttered Gilbert. "So I'm Gilbert and you are?"

"My name is Japan." Said the man. "I must say I wasn't sure if the rumours were true, but now that I can see you with my own eyes I must say I'm shocked Gilbert san."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "Rumours? Cool. I must be pretty freaking awesome for people to make up rumours about me. Are they good or bad? And while you're at it are we underground?"

Japan was a little surprised by the questions but nodded. "Nothing bad or good. People have just said that they have seen someone who looks like Prussia san walking around. As for where we are, we are currently fifteen kilometres below the Earth's surface."

"… Is it even possible for humans to survive at that depth?"

Japan shrugged. "Where there is a will, there is a way. If you would like to know this place is known as The Burrow."

"Because it's like a rabbit or fox hole or something?" Asked Gilbert curiously.

Japan thought for a second. "I guess so… Please excuse me. I have to go now. I have some work I must complete as soon as possible."

"Can I come?" Asked Gilbert with a smile. "It would be awesome to see some stuff."

Japan hesitated slightly. "Um… I'm not sure… Just as long as you don't touch anything I'm sure it will be okay…"

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

They ended up down several winding halls, through several rooms, down a flight of steps and down a mineshaft elevator they came to a large iron door. Japan quickly punched in some numbers into the control panel next to the door. A buzzing noise droned on for a few moments before the door clicked open.

Japan walked inside and Gilbert quickly followed. He was shocked at the amount of medical equipment on benches; bottles of this and that, syringes and even some preserved organs. Yet these organs were different, unlike anything Gilbert had ever seen before in his life.

He walked over to a particularly odd looking jar and frowned; it was small, green in colour and had something like an artery poking out of the side. "What's this?"

Japan looked at the organ and frowned. "An S-Plague heart." He picked up the jar, sighing sadly. "This should not be here… It should be in the other room."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "Another room? Do you have different rooms set up for different Plagues or something?"

Japan nodded. "Yes. There are six sections to this research centre; S-Plague research and development or R and D for short, B-Plague R and D, G-Plague R and D, W-Plague R and D, Grabber R and D and finally the R and D room. Please remember not to touch anything."

Once Japan was done explaining he walked through a plastic door. Gilbert sighed and followed him into the next room. It was similar to the first except there seemed to be surgical equipment everywhere and in the far corner of the room there was some over grown insect type thing in a per specs box.

Curiosity got the better of him so he approached the box. The insect thing was about the size of a three year old, had a blue exoskeleton, four thick legs split into two sections with two toe like appendages for stability, thin arms attached to its miss matched chest cavity, its hands were large and its finders were long and thin, its neck was long and bent connecting to the base of its bulbous head. The mouth of this creature was wide and gaping, revealing its two triangular teeth, the eyes were purple and compact, similar to that of a fly, the back of the head was elongated and the brain of the creature seemed to be bulging out the back of it, but it seemed to be covered in a purplish, mucus membrane.

Gilbert cringed in disgust. "Gross."

Suddenly the insect thing pounced towards Gilbert, hitting the side of the box, hissing and spitting globs of green spit. Gilbert jumped back slightly.

Japan looked over at Gilbert and smiled slightly. "I see you've met our residence S-Plague."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "That's an S-Plague? I thought they were meant to be smart."

"They are smart." Said Japan. He tapped a thermometer against the per specs box. "You see, S-Plagues are some of the easiest to catch and exterminate. The soft membrane around their brain makes them an easy target. The soft black, skin like tissue around their abdomen, under the thorax and just under their throat makes it easy for them to die."

The S-Plague hissed, but slowly backed off. It squatted in the corner of the box and glared at Gilbert and Japan, clicking its teeth together as if it was muttering darkly.

"Why do you have an S-Plague here?" Asked Gilbert curiously. Even though the S-Plague disgusted him, he couldn't help but feel intrigued by the monster in the box.

"Dissection mostly." Said Japan. "We need to see how these creatures work. Once we know how they work we can kill them… We might be able to win this war."

Gilbert nodded slowly. "I guess… But they were humans once right? Can you find a way to change them back?"

An emotion similar to regret and pain momentarily danced behind Japan's eyes. "We tried to find a cure for over forty years. Nothing ever worked…"

"Oh…"

Japan nodded. "Please feel free to look around and ask questions, but please for your own safety don't touch anything." He turned and put on a lab coat before turning a corner, leaving Gilbert quite alone.

Gilbert sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. '_Damn… This world is so messed up. Why did it all have to end up like this?_'

He was pulled out of his thoughts when the sound of something tapping against plastic caught his attention. He looked back at the S-Plague which was now right up the front of its box, tapping away at the plastic, trying to get Gilbert's attention.

Gilbert frowned, but cautiously approached the S-Plague again. "Yes? Got something to say?" Asked Gilbert.

To his surprise the S-Plague nodded. "Yes… You aren't from around here are you?"

"Wait… you can actually talk?" Asked Gilbert in shock.

The S-Plague clicked its teeth together. "How intuitive. You must be from really far away if you don't know about simple little facts. Where are you from?"

Gilbert chuckled. "Wouldn't you like to know? I'm not telling you anything you bastard."

"I'm a girl." Hissed the S-Plague angrily. "I'm only seven too. I don't appreciate this kind of ignorant and slanderous speech from someone who is supposedly older than me. It disappoints me that your species is so stupid. I'll be glad when you're all eventually destroyed. Crushed under the mighty boot of our all-powerful lord and master! Hail Hunter!"

Gilbert was taken aback by the S-Plagues little rant. "You're seven? What the hell? Were you born like this? Also do you realize that you sound just a little like a Nazi?"

The S-Plague hissed and spat green goo on the per specs box. "You're vermin! How dear you say such a thing! You speak in questions! You answer another question with another! Do you believe yourself a god?"

"Do I?" Asked Gilbert with a smirk. "Do I answer every question with a question? Is that even possible?"

The S-Plague growled and clicked its teeth together in irritation. "You're a fool. You cannot win this war. You will die before it ends… And when it ends it will be with a final and glorious battle! Blood will rain from the sky and all countries will bow before Hunter!"

Gilbert chuckled darkly. "You're right. This war will end with one final battle, but Hunter won't live to see it. He will die and I'm going to kill him."

The S-Plague looked at Gilbert for a moment before bursting into high pitched laughter. "And how will you do that? You're but a child!"

"Didn't you say you were seven?" Asked Gilbert.

"I'm different." Said the S-Plague proudly. "But what has Hunter done to you? Directly I mean. What gives you the right to say that you will deliver the strike that kills the true ruler of this earth? Our lord and master, Hunter?"

"He hurt someone important to me." Growled Gilbert dangerously. "I just want to return the favour… Since Hunter left him an emotional wreck."

Immediately the S-Plagues eyes lit up. "Canada? Hunter was very angry when he left, or so I was told… Destroyed the top half of America if I'm not mistaken when he disappeared."

Gilbert shifted uncomfortably. "Who said it was Canada? It could be someone else."

"Not possible." Said The S-Plague. "The only ones that would survive one on one with Hunter is a country, and the only one he really liked to mess with physically and mentally was Canada… I'm amazed he's still sane. If half the stuff Hunter did to him is true any normal person would have suicided by now. Oh well I guess that's all part of the amazing healing power a country has. Not only do the physical scars heal, but so do the mental ones."

"Go to hell." Growled Gilbert in frustration. He didn't want to hear the poisonous words the S-Plague was spouting from its lips.

The S-Plague just chuckled at Gilbert's anger. "Did you know that there are some recordings of what Hunter did to him? Its stuff Hollywood would ban it's so gory and gruesome! You can hear Canada screaming until he passes out from either shock or lack of oxygen."

"Shut up." Hissed Gilbert. "I don't want to hear this bullshit!"

"The little bitch screamed when Hunter cut off his arms and legs!" Snarled the S-Plague. "He begged for mercy! Mercy is for the weak! Hunter shows no mercy! Hunter is not weak! All those who beg for mercy deserve to be killed by Grabbers! They have no honour! Canada hade the privilege of getting tortured by the master of the new world but he threw it away!"

Gilbert grabbed the sides of the S-Plagues cage and growled darkly. "Shut up. You're a liar! Besides who the hell wouldn't want to escape their abuser? Canada's no coward! He's awesome!"

"He's a fool!" Hissed the S-Plague. "Before the war ends Hunter will have him again… and when he has him… If Canada thought he knew what it feels to be tortured back then, he has no idea what he's in for now!"

"Son of a fucking bitch!" Growled Gilbert. "I'll fucking kill-"

"What are you doing Gilbert san?" Asked Japan in a worried tone.

Gilbert glared at the S-Plague, but reluctantly backed away. "Nothing." He muttered. "This S-Plague needs to learn to shut its mouth though."

Japan raised an eyebrow. "Are you implying that S-Plagues can speak?"

Gilbert was slightly confused at Japan's reaction. "Um yeah?"

"Plagues can't speak Gilbert san." Said Japan. "That S-Plague has been monitored for years but we have never heard it speak to anyone."

Now Gilbert was extremely confused. "What? But she was talking! Some of the shit that came out of that brat's mouth!"

Japan frowned, he seemed to be just as confused about the whole situation as Gilbert. "I'm sorry Gilbert san, but S-Plagues don't speak. They have a very limited vocal range. They can only communicate with a few clicks of their teeth and a few hisses and growls here and there."

Gilbert frowned and looked at the S-Plague. "But it was talking to me."

"Telepathy you fool!" Snapped the S-Plague. "I only talk to people I want! Japan can't hear me! God you creatures are stupid! Just get eaten by a Grabber already! Your stupidity astounds even the dead!"

"Oh." Muttered Gilbert. "Telepathy…"

"Telepathy?" Asked Japan.

"Yeah. They use telepathy to communicate." Said Gilbert casually. "She just doesn't talk to you because she doesn't like you.

Japan just looked at Gilbert oddly. "I see…"

Gilbert shrugged. "Yeah well… Do you have any G-Plagues? I haven't seen them yet."

Japan shook his head. "No… But we do have several G-Plague body parts if you would like to see them."

Gilbert nodded. "Yeah." He followed Japan into a different room, giving the S-Plague one last glance. He wasn't sure what to make of its idle and bitter remarks about Canada.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **There done! Hoped you all liked it. Please review!


	40. Bones

**Shinigami-cat:** I hope you all like this… I OWN NOTHING!

**Bones**

Japan led Gilbert into a different room. It was filled with many different sharp tools; saws, scalpels, knives, axes, chainsaws, spears, and even some kind of Freddy Kruger-like glove. It was pretty awesome, but at the same time it was kind of disturbing, "What's with all the stuff?" asked Gilbert.

Japan shrugged, "Surgical equipment and weapons we've gotten off G-Plagues." He walked over to a cupboard and opened it up, taking out several elongated limbs in jars and put them on the counter top bench, "These are a few samples of G-Plagues that we have been able to collect over the years."

Gilbert walked over and looked at a segment of arm, which was rather long and thin. It reminded Gilbert of a stick insect, "Wow. Are these things anorexic or something?"

Japan shrugged, "G-Plagues have always been really tall and skinny. We were originally going to call them Anorexic Plagues or A-Plagues for short, but we saw a similarity between all G-Plagues. In fact, it's the same similarity with B-Plagues."

Gilbert leaned against the bench, eyebrow raised in question, "And?"

"G-Plagues and B-Plagues are gender based groups." said Japan. He pulled open a drawer and pulled out a clip board and a pen, "G-Plagues are always females most commonly dressed as -pardon my language- cheap whores, sluts, and hookers. G can stand for either Girl or Guard. B-Plagues are always male and the B can stand for either Boy or Battle." He started to scribble down notes on his clip board, "Feel free to look around. I'll just be over there, doing my work. Please call me if you need me."

Gilbert nodded and turned back to the G-Plague body parts. The skin on all of them was leathery and warped. He couldn't tell if that's what their skin really looked like or if it was because of the chemicals that were meant to preserve them.

He picked up a hand in a jar and sighed, remembering what the S-Plague said. He didn't want to believe what it, but he couldn't stop thinking about it. '_I just can't believe someone would do something like that to Canada. That S-Plague knows nothing about him… But then again, do I really know anything about him? All I know is a few little facts here and there… Is that why he hardly talks about himself? Are the memories of what Hunter did too painful for him? It would explain why he always tries to change the topic._'

He put the jar down and opened up another cupboard to see what was in there. He almost jumped out of his skin. Inside the cupboard was a head; the skin around its eyes were pulled back into a diamond shape and held in place by thick, iron staples, the nose was pointed and sharp and the mouth… what could be said about the mouth? Skin from the top lip was pulled down and stapled to the chin. It almost looked like the flesh was melting.

It was horrifying to say the least. He slowly closed the cupboard and shuddered, "That… was disturbing…"

He couldn't understand why they would need to keep a G-Plague head right there where anyone could see it. Someone was going to have a heart attack. He walked over to Japan to see what he was doing.

Japan was just looking at a computer screen and taking down notes, "What exactly do you do here?"

"Just a bit of this and that." muttered Japan. He walked over to a large, filing cabinet-like structure. He opened up a draw and pulled out a white plastic tray, "Today I'm comparing the bone decay of different bones."

Gilbert shrugged, "That's cool."

Japan put the tray down on the desk and started to take out an array of bones, some misshapen and others more recognizable, "Take a look at the structure these two femurs Gilbert-san."

Gilbert picked up the bones and frowned; one bone was sleek, whitish-brown and looked pretty normal. On the other hand the second bone was dark brown, looked like a brittle stick and was starting to crack, "Okay, so what am looking at exactly?"

"A human femur and a G-Plague femur." said Japan. He carefully picked up the G-Plague femur and put in back in the tray, "These bones can only been exposed to the air for a few days before they become dust. We have no way of preserving them."

Gilbert shrugged and picked up the human femur, "How did you get this one?"

Japan looked at the bone for a second and shrugged, "Female from Italy, if I'm not mistaken. Well, at least that's what these bones have been cataloged as."

"I see." muttered Gilbert. He casually swung the bone in his hand a little more. It was surprisingly light and not unlike the other bones he had held before, "How do you know? Why do you have all these bones, anyway?"

"Research." said Japan as he picked up a few smaller bones from both human and Plague, "Everyone here knows that Plagues are made from humans and are more than happy to let us examine and compare their bodies to Plagues when they are dead. Do you disapprove, Gilbert-san?"

Gilbert shook his head, "I'm fine with it. I mean, some people were donating their bodies to art when they died and some to science and some to hospitals so that other people could have their organs… It's pretty weird how people can still use bodies when they're dead."

Japan started to scrape small samples of bone onto a black cutting board, "Humans are actually using human bodies less these days, or were, as the case might be now. Back in Incan times, the dead could be made into instruments. Bone flutes and human skin drums for example."

Gilbert pulled a disgusted face, "That's gross."

"Not really." said Japan. He brushed his powdered bone fragments into small test tubes and added water to liquefy the substance. "That was just what they did. Back when people first started to dissect cadavers, it was considered gross and unholy, but without those first gruesome steps there wouldn't be all these advances. I mean, there _were_ these advances. Now everything seems to have taken a leap backwards."

Gilbert could understand what Japan was saying, but he wasn't sure if it was relevant to what they were talking about anymore. His mind started to wander back to the S-Plague. It seemed odd that no one had heard it talk before. It worried him, "Why hasn't that S-Plague talked to anyone before?"

"I'm not sure." said Japan. He gently swirled the calcium liquid in the test tubes while holding them up to the light, "In all honesty, S-Plagues have never really communicated with anyone other than other Plagues and Hunter himself. We assumed that they didn't like to interact with those they considered inferior beings."

"I guess I'm too awesome not to talk to." said Gilbert with a smirk, "S-Plagues are compelled to talk to me and my awesomeness."

"But then again… No it's nothing." muttered Japan.

"What?" asked Gilbert. He put the femur back down on the table and leaned a little closer to Japan.

Japan glanced over at Gilbert, his expression giving away nothing, "It isn't really my place to say… But you do know that Hunter held Canada-san as his prisoner for over forty years, right?"

Gilbert's jaw dropped, "Over forty years? I had no idea it was that long! I mean, I had my suspicions, but... that long?"

"I apologise, Gilbert-san." said Japan quickly, "I did not realize that you didn't know."

"It's cool." said Gilbert. His mind was now racing with all kinds of horrible images of what could have happened to Canada. All of which were bloody, violent, and gory.

Japan cleared his throat, "Anyway, as I was saying, when Canada-san was with him… Canada said he could hear voices. He also said he once saw two S-Plagues talking to each other while they were… um… stitching him back together."

"Back together?" asked Gilbert with wide eyes, "What do you mean 'back together'?"

"Countries are not like humans." said Japan as he set up a microscope and sample slides, "We can endure physical and mental torture that would kill any ordinary human. We also have the ability to heal extremely fast and our scars become completely invisible under almost all light." He put a slide in the microscope and started to adjust the focus. "Canada-san probably has the most scars of any country to date. If I'm not mistaken America-san once told me that a few days after Canada-san had been rescued, he went into Canada's room and he saw his scars. Well, the older ones, anyway. He was badly wounded when he was found. Apparently, they are only visible in moon light. Canada-san is very sensitive about them. It would be best not to mention that you know of them."

"Sure." gulped Gilbert. He couldn't help but imagine the kinds of scars that could, and probably were, covering Canada's body. They ranged from burns to knife wounds. The thought made his skin crawl and his stomach turn. He hated it.

"Could you please pass me my pen?" asked Japan.

Gilbert nodded and passed Japan his pen, "Yeah… I'm going to go now…"

"Do you know the way back?" asked Japan.

"I can manage." muttered Gilbert, "Nice talking to you, by the way. Really… informative."

"I apologise again if I caused you distress, Gilbert-san." said Japan.

"It's fine, Japan." said Gilbert. He slowly walked out of that room and back into the one with the S-Plague.

The S-Plague chuckled darkly and leaned against its per specs prison, "You look ill, human. Take a nap… Take a long, long dirt nap. I know Canada will soon."

"Go to hell." spat Gilbert as he exited that place all together.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

It didn't take Gilbert long before he became lost. He ended up in some kind of court yard. It was similar to that of something one might see at a medieval castle, except the sky was made of brown rock and orange clay. It was oddly beautiful in a surreal sort of way.

He took it upon himself to explore the huge court yard; lush green grass covered the grounds, waist high rose and other flower bushes were placed tastefully in different spots and tall stone statues and benches dotted the place. In all honesty, Gilbert had no idea how anything could grow so well underground, but he was not going to argue.

He sat down on a bench, next to a statue of Queen Victoria and slowly let out a long, deep sigh. His mind was still processing all the new information he had just received over the last few hours. He didn't like it at all. He hated how everyone seemed to know everything about Canada, but he knew nothing.

He knew he should just talk to Canada about it and ask him about it, but Canada being Canada would just dismiss it and change the subject. It annoyed Gilbert so much. '_Why can't he just tell me? I want to know! I want to help him! How can he just keep all that bottled up inside? It must be eating him alive inside… I just want him to talk to me about it…_'

"Aw… the tomatoes don't seem to be growing too well, Roma…" sighed a sad Spanish man.

"Of course not, tomato-bastard!" snapped an angry Italian, "Why the hell did you even think you could grow tomatoes underground? Idiot."

Gilbert quickly looked up and saw a man that looked a lot like Antonio and a man that looked a lot like Lovino standing near a sorry looking vegetable garden. He smirked and snuck up behind them. When he was close enough he pushed them forwards knocking them both off balance. The Spaniard managed to stay standing, but the Italian fell flat on his face.

"Mother fucker!" cursed the Italian, "I'll fucking kill you! You Spanish bastard!"

"But it wasn't me, Roma." whined the Spaniard.

"He's right." said Gilbert, "It was the awesome me! It was too good an opportunity to miss."

The Spaniard turned and grinned, "Gilbert! How are you? France told me you looked just like Prussia, minus the tattoo and act like him to. I'm Spain and this is Romano."

Gilbert grinned, "I have a feeling I'm going to get along with you and France just fine."

Romano quickly got to his feet and gave Gilbert a death glare. "What the hell? You think it's funny to just push people, potato bastard number two?"

Gilbert rolled his eyes and looked back at the vegetable garden, "So what's up with your garden? Can't grow anything?"

"Obviously." snarled Romano.

Spain just chuckled and sighed, "Well you see… Most of what we eat here is Grabber meat, chicken and sometimes cow and lamb, but we mainly have cows to make milk, chickens for eggs and sheep for wool. Most fruits and vegetables are in short supply at the moment. Pretty much the only thing that we can grow is potatoes…"

"I'm not eating potatoes!" snapped Romano, "Who knows what kind of gross disease I could get from eating that filth!"

Spain sighed and patted Romano's back, "I know, Roma."

"I thought I fucking told you to stop calling me that!" snapped Romano, "Fuck this! I'm going to find my stupid fratello. He's probably sucking face with that fucking potato fucker!" With that, the very angry Italian stormed off.

When he was out of ear shot Gilbert chuckled, "Keseseseseseses! It's awesome to know that some things will never change."

Spain smiled innocently, "What do you mean?"

Gilbert shrugged, "Parallel worlds and stuff. Where I come from my Romano so to speak, acts just the same."

Spain grinned, "It's good to know he's just as cute in any world."

Gilbert looked at Spain and raised an eyebrow, "Not many would call him cute… But whatever. Each to their own, I guess."

"Indeed." said Spain. He looked back at the vegetable garden and sighed sadly, "Not much more I can do to this today… Want to get a drink?"

Gilbert shrugged, "Why not. Just as long as there is lots of-"

"Beer?" asked Spain with a smirk.

"That's just scary." said Gilbert.

Spain just grinned and started to lead Gilbert towards a small wooden door, "It's not that scary, Gilbert."

"Yes it is!"

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat:** Well I was wondering if I should do a chapter from Canada's point of view. Let me know what you guys think. If I get a positive response the next chapter will be from Canada's point of view. If not, I'll keep going with Gilbert's point of view. Please review.


	41. Beautiful Scars

**Shinigami-cat:** Well this is the amazing chapter done from Canada's point of view! I hope you like it… I OWN NOTHING!

**Beautiful Scars**

Canada's heart was beating at a million miles per second, threatening to give out at any second. His legs hurt from running so quickly. The only thing that stopped him from collapsing right then and there was the fact that he knew that if he stopped, he was as good as dead.

He only stopped running when he was couldn't hear the battle that was raging anymore. He fell to his knees and gasped for breath, "Maple." He whimpered, "He isn't still after me, is he? He must have gone back to the fight, right?"

He received no answer from the trees that towered over him. Slowly, he stood up and looked around. He was lost. '_Damn it. I should have payed attention to where I was going. There's no way I'm going to find my way back any time soon… I just hope that Gilbert's okay._'

"Where are you Canada?" Called a disturbingly cheerful voice. It sent icy chills up Canada's spine, "Come out, come out, wherever you are! I'm going to find you!"

Canada's eyes went wide with fear and they darted around the trees. He couldn't tell which direction Hunter's voice was coming from. He tried to move but he was paralyzed with fear, "Not now." He whimpered.

Suddenly, two cold hands gripped Canada's shoulders and a chilling breath caressed the back of the Canadian's neck, "Hello, Canada…"

Canada began to tremble under Hunter's touch and his heart started to beat even more rapidly in his chest, if that was even possible, "Hunter."

"Interesting stunt you pulled back there." Hunter whispered into Canada's ear as he gently warped his arms around Canada's smaller frame, one resting around Canada's hip and the other was wrapped around his chest, "I didn't think you would stick your neck out for someone just like that… But then again, I guess it's different if the human looks just like Prussia."

"Don't talk about Prussia like you knew him." whispered Canada.

Hunter chuckled and rested his chin of Canada's shoulder, "Well, aren't you all sunshine and roses today. What happened? Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed?" Slowly his grip on Canada tightened, "Or are you just pissed that you have someone from a parallel earth following you around?"

Canada gulped, "You knew?"

"How could I not?" growled Hunter, "I could tell the second I was able to manipulate his blood. I would have ripped it all right out of his body if you hadn't stepped in… You made me wonder why you would even do that… I thought for a second that you thought that he was Prussia's spirit, but you know that spirits don't have blood. So I thought that maybe he came from that backwater excuse for a world that you ran off to."

"I can't breathe." whimpered Canada, but Hunter didn't hear him or chose to ignore him.

"Nice little trick you pulled with those stupid stones." hissed Hunter spitefully, "Did you really think you could run away from me? Are you stupid? How dare you try to escape me. You are mine and mine alone."

Canada desperately tried to breathe to respond, "I'm… Not yours…" He gasped, "I… belong… to no one…"

Hunter growled and began to dig his nails into Canada's hip and chest. Easily piercing through the clothing, "I branded you. You're my property. My toy. I don't like it when my toys talk back like that."

With that he sunk his teeth deep into Canada's neck, electing a scream from the small blond. The pain was unbearable. It felt like his someone was stabbing him with a million rusted darts in his neck. Suddenly, Hunter pulled back, ripping the flesh right off Canada.

Canada screamed as he fell to the ground and clutched his bloody neck, trying desperately to stop the bleeding. Hunter simply watched the blond and chuckled and he chewed the raw meat in his mouth, "Don't worry, Canada. I didn't rip into anything major. I just took off enough to get my message across."

Canada glared at Hunter, "I'm not your toy." he hissed, "I don't care what you say to me or do to me. I'm not your toy and I never will be… I wasn't your toy back then and I sure as hell am not your toy now."

Hunter swallowed the meat in his mouth, blood dripping down his chin. He chuckled at Canada's somewhat feeble attempt to defy him and gently nudged Canada onto his back with the heel of his shoe, "I guess I'll have to be a little stricter with you, then."

Before Canada could even register what Hunter had said, he was on top of him, ripping off his jacket and shirt. When the offending clothing items were gone, Hunter paused for a second and ran his fingers down Canada's chest.

"I can feel your blood speeding through your veins, Canada." He growled out as he smirked.

Canada couldn't say anything, he just trembled in fear, '_Please don't kill me!_' He practically screamed in his head over and over again.

Hunter chuckled at the obvious fear he could see in Canada's eyes. He smirked and gently moved his hand over his blood stained mouth; the blood slowly lifted off his face and manifested into a tool similar to a pizza cutter, but with a serrated edge. Hunter chuckled and pressed the blade against Canada's sternum and gently sliced into the skin.

Canada gasped, but otherwise did nothing. He was too afraid to move in case Hunter decided to rip out the rest of his throat. The cut stung, but he could live with that. A cut was nothing to him. But when Hunter slipped his fingers into the cut, Canada screamed, "No! Please, no!"

Hunter just laughed and ripped the skin and muscle off his chest like wrapping paper, exposing his rib cage. The pain made Canada spasm involuntarily and cry out in shock. Hunter just laughed in his face. "You're such a wuss! It's just a little cut!"

But Canada couldn't hear him. All he could hear was the sound of his heart pulsing rapidly behind his ears. He couldn't move, couldn't think, couldn't speak. Hunter just shrugged it off and started to cut into Canada's sternum. After pressing down hard, the bone cracked and gave way. Some small shards penetrated the trachea, making it harder to breathe.

Once the sternum broke, Hunter pulled out the broken chips of bone and carefully laced his fingers inside the wound. He smirked and whispered into Canada's ear, "Welcome home, Birdie." He quickly pulled back, shattering the sides of Canada's ribs and impaling them into his lungs at the same time. A strangled and blood soaked cry escaped Canada's lips before he lost consciousness.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Canada's eyes snapped open as he jumped up. His eyes quickly darted around the room as he tried to remember where he was. After a few seconds, he realized where he was he slowly started to relax, "Right… It was just a dream… Just a horrible dream…"

He looked down at his chest and saw that it was still bandaged. He could still feel Hunter cutting into him. It made him feel sick. He felt violated. He hated how weak he was when he was alone with Hunter. It made his skin crawl to think that a monster like him still had so much control over him. It made him feel like he was nothing. He sighed and shook his head.

Hunter was nothing more than a monster to him; someone that abused and tortured him for years on end without fail, "No… I can't think about him." muttered Canada to himself, "Hunter is my past. I have to forget him… He's a monster. Not someone I should even think about… So why can't I stop myself?"

He pulled his knees up to his chest and hugged then close. Images of his bloody past started to fill his head. He shuddered. He knew he shouldn't be thinking of those times. He shouldn't be remembering the past. He needed to think about his future.

A future that didn't include Hunter, but after living with him for so long he wasn't sure how to anymore. For years he was used to the mindless, bloody and violent beatings. He didn't want to admit it, be he had developed a minor case of Stockholm's syndrome. A small part of him wanted to see Hunter again, but he squashed that thought immediately, '_No! He abused me! He thinks I'm just a toy. He's a monster. I hate him! He ruined my life! Because of him, I have these ugly scars that'll never fully disappear!_'

A few tears fell from his eyes at that thought. He hated his scars. The only good thing about them was that no one could see them in the day time, but at night when he was alone his scars could glow as bright as blood under a UV light. He was ashamed of them. They were a constant reminder of the past and everything he hated.

But he couldn't dwell on the past. He had to concentrate on the present and future. Once he had calmed down a little more he slowly stood up and walked over to the window with the blanket draped around his shoulders. Being so deep underground, it was difficult to tell what the time was unless a clock was available. But clocks were few and far between so most people relied on the illusions in some of the windows. They mainly showed day and night. At the moment it seemed as though it was night, if the moon was anything to go by.

"I wonder when Gilbert will get back?" He asked himself. Gilbert had always been an odd subject to him. He had mixed feelings for him. The small intimate moments they shared together from time to time were in no way sexually motivated. They were innocent and he liked that. He also liked how strong-willed Gilbert was. He always wanted to help and he had a need to protect Canada.

That was something he worried about greatly. If Hunter didn't exist in this world he would find Gilbert's protectiveness cute, similar to how Prussia would have acted. But the fact was that Hunter did exits meant that way Gilbert was acting was dangerous. If they ended up fighting again and Hunter came into the picture Gilbert would probably die. No, he would die.

Canada couldn't protect Prussia, but he could protect Gilbert from pain, the truth, and most importantly Hunter. If Hunter killed Gilbert, he wouldn't be able to live with himself anymore.

He sighed and leaned against the window, even with the illusion of the moon the scars on his exposed skin still lit up with an eerie bluish white glow. He hated it. Suddenly, the door opened and in staggered a slightly drunk Gilbert.

"Fiftieth times the charm." He slurred as he closed the door behind himself.

Canada sighed, he could smell the beer on him from across the room, "What happened to you? Did you find the wine cellar?"

Gilbert shook his head, a lopsided grin plastered to his face. "Spain and I went to this place, it was like um, a fucking huge cafeteria or some shit and we started drinking. Not the crappy, tinier, foot wine. Actual good German beer!" He staggered over to a wall and leaned against it for support. "Then France showed up and we started talking like we've known each other forever… Then these Russians show up with their vodka… After that it's kind of a blur…"

Canada smiled and shook his head, "So now you're drunk? Well, you need to get some sleep. You're going to have one hell of a hangover tomorrow."

Gilbert pouted childishly, "I don't want to go to bed… Besides you have the blanket."

Canada rolled his eyes and walked over to the drunken teen. "Come on. We both need to go to bed, okay? I haven't really gotten much sleep today."

Gilbert nodded and lazily grabbed Canada's arm to stop himself from falling. Canada just sighed. He knew Gilbert was going to have the worst headache in history when he woke up in the morning.

When they got over to the mattress, Gilbert kind of fell over, pulling Canada down with him but at the same time he pulled the blanket off. Canada's scars shone in the darkness with the aid of the moonlight. Canada gasped and quickly pulled the blanket around himself. He hoped that Gilbert was too drunk to notice. Sadly, he was wrong.

"Wow." whispered Gilbert as he slowly sat up, "Are those your scars?"

Canada shuffled away slightly, keeping his eyes on the ground and the blanket wrapped tightly around his body. He had heard it all before from different people; they'll go away eventually, I'm sorry this happened to you, well you just need to get stronger so this won't happen again, it's not that bad, I'm so sorry. He didn't need to hear that again. He didn't want sympathy.

"They're beautiful." whispered Gilbert.

Canada's eyes went wide with shock. Never had anyone called his scars beautiful. Countries saw their scars as something to be ashamed of. Something to hide away from the rest of the world. A country with obvious scars was easy to attack. That's why countries had the ability to heal so well. To hide their faults. To appear strong even if they weren't. "Beautiful?" asked Canada, "But they… They are so ugly. They show how weak I am. How easily it is for me to be overpowered."

"But they aren't ugly." said Gilbert. His speech was a little slurred, but not as badly as before. He gently reached out and held Canada's hand through the blanket. "I think it's pretty cool… I mean, us mortals have to live with really ugly ones but you can make them pretty much vanish. Who cares if they glow in the dark? It's awesome."

A dark blush started to cover Canada's face, "You're drunk. You don't know what you're saying. These scars aren't awesome. They are shameful. I hate them. They keep reminding me of him… How I couldn't stop him from doing… everything. I'm so weak."

Gilbert sighed and pulled Canada into a hug, "You're not weak… Those scars show me just how strong you are. Who else but you could go through all that and survive? No one, that's who." He tilted Canada's head so that they were facing each other. Gilbert's face was dusted pink due to the alcohol and his hair was messier than usual but his eyes were full of mixed emotions; sympathy, kindness, passion and something he couldn't quite tell.

Canada's blush darkened, "No one has scars like mine… These scars are ugly."

Gilbert frowned slightly, "Nothing about you is ugly. Everything about you is awesome. Scars and all." He gently slipped his hands under the blanket and slowly pulled it down. Canada was a little reluctant at first, but allowed Gilbert to remove it. His scars immediately started to glow when the moonlight hit them.

"I feel like a Twilight reject." muttered Canada miserably. He looked away from Gilbert. He didn't want to hear him go on about how weird or wonderful his scars were. Gilbert probably just thought he was a freak.

Gilbert chuckled and turned Canada's head so they were facing each other again. Their faces were dangerously close, "Well, weird glowing scars or not, I like how you look." He leaned forward and gently pressed their lips together.

Canada's eyes went wide. He didn't really know how to react. Was Gilbert drunk enough to randomly kiss him? But he seemed more sober then he did before. It was confusing. But as soon as it started it was over. Gilbert pulled back and fell to his side, asleep.

Canada face palmed and sighed dramatically. "Seriously? He kissed me and passed out?"

He lied down next to Gilbert and pulled the blanket over the both of them. He turned so his back was facing Gilbert and sighed sadly. Gilbert was drunk. He didn't really mean to kiss him. He probably wouldn't even remember what happened in the morning. For some reason that thought made his chest hurt.

'_Why should I care?_' He asked himself. '_He didn't mean to kiss me. He's just drunk and probably thought that's what he was meant to do… He won't remember any of this…_' He could feel tears starting to swell up in the corners of his eyes.

Suddenly, Gilbert's arm wrapped around Canada's waist and pulled him close. The blush on Canada's face darkened and his heart beat sped up dramatically to the point it almost hurt, but in a good way, "Ich liebe dich...Birdie..." Muttered Gilbert in his sleep.

Canada's heart skipped a beat. Gilbert just said he loved him? He was obviously really drunk. The alcohol was to blame for Gilbert's odd behaviour. There was no way he would say those things sober, but then again Gilbert did say similar things back in his world. But that could be brushed aside. Gilbert was unwell at that time. He didn't mean to say those things.

Though at times, he wondered what would have happened if he had accepted Gilbert back then. Would they be here now or would they be back in Gilbert's world, safe from the horrors of this one? It was impossible to tell.

Canada closed his eyes and tried to get to sleep. Hopefully he wouldn't dream of Hunter tonight.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat:** And that was Canada's chapter. I hope it lived up to your expectations… Please review.


	42. Stress Test

**Shinigami-cat:** So things are now going back to Gilbert's point of view. Also the other day I was looking at videos on YouTube and I realized that if Hunter had his own theme song it would be _Don't mess with me _by _Temposhark_ … I OWN NOTHING!

**Stress Test**

Gilbert awoke first the next morning, before Canada. He still had his arm wrapped around him from the previous night. He felt a knot of guilt settle in his stomach. He wasn't that drunk last night. He just had one and a half. The other half of his beer got knocked over by a drunk Spain.

He didn't really know why he acted like he was completely off his head when he got back to Canada. The only thing he could think of was that Canada would say something he wouldn't usually, assuming that Gilbert wouldn't remember in the morning. He didn't realize how ashamed Canada was of his scars. The look on his face was heartbreaking. But he meant every word he said. Canada's scars were beautiful.

He sighed sadly and gently ran his fingers through the Canadians hair. '_Canada… I don't know why you hate yourself so much. Sure, Hunter did horrible things to you, but you're here now. I won't let Hunter touch you again. I'll protect you._'

Canada started to shift under his touch so Gilbert moved away. As soon there was no physical contact between them, Canada started to tremble and whimper, "No… It hurts… Stop…"

Gilbert sighed and held Canada close. He didn't know what else to do besides wake him up, but he didn't want to do that. Canada needed to sleep, but if he got any worse he would have to wake him up. Canada slowly calmed down and his sleep-talking stopped. He was still trembling.

Suddenly, Canada screamed and bolted up with tears streaming down his face, chest heaving, and sweat dripping down his face and neck. Gilbert quickly sat up next to him and held him close, "Calm down, Canada. I'm here. It's alright, just breath."

Once Canada had calmed down he slowly moved away from Gilbert, "Um… Morning. How much of last night do you remember?"

Gilbert thought for a second. He remembered walking in, seeing Canada's scars, talking to him and then… nothing, "Not much. Why?"

Canada blushed bright red, "No reason…"

Gilbert raised an eyebrow, "What? Come on, tell me."

"Nothing." muttered Canada, "It's probably a good thing that you don't remember… Anyway, want to help me with my bandages? France dropped off some clean ones while I was sleeping yesterday."

Gilbert nodded and started to peel off the bandage on Canada's neck. The wound was pretty much gone by now. All that was left was a scab the size of a pin head.

"Sweet. It's pretty much healed. You countries are amazing."

Canada blushed and shook his head, "It's nothing really… It's going to leave an ugly scar."

Gilbert pouted, "But your scars are awesome." He started to gently pull away the bandages on Canada's chest.

"So you remembered that part?" asked Canada, his voice sounded a little shaky.

Gilbert nodded, "Yeah, but after a while everything went fuzzy… I didn't vomit on you, did I?"

Canada shook his head and helped Gilbert take off his bandages, "No. Besides, I think you would be able to tell if you threw up. I mean, it's not like I would have had anything to clean it up with, would I?"

"Good point." said Gilbert. Once the bandages were off, Gilbert wasn't surprised to see that there were only a few little scabs here and there. However, he was slightly shocked that he still had his tattoo fully intact, like it was never even ripped.

Canada noticed Gilbert's shocked look and sighed, "All countries have a mark on them somewhere on their body. It's both an indicator that they are indeed a country to other countries and is a safety precaution if one happens to get amnesia."

"So it's a fancy birthmark?" Asked Gilbert.

"I guess you could call it that." Said Canada. He slowly got up and stretched. "Well, I need to go down and see Japan. Did you meet him the other day?"

Gilbert nodded. He remembered his encounter with Japan well, although he remembered the S-Plagues and G-Plague better, "Yeah… Why do you need to see him?"

"Papa said I should get some tests done when I was better." said Canada. He looked around the room, "Maybe Japan has a shirt I can use…"

Gilbert took off his jacket that he had fallen asleep in and gave it to Canada, "Not sure if it'll fit, but it's a start."

Canada smiled and slipped it on, "Thanks." It pretty much fit him perfectly, but he couldn't do up the zipper, so he just left it open, "Wait… shouldn't you have a hangover?"

Gilbert shrugged and stood up, "I have a high alcohol tolerance. Now let's go see Japan."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

When they got back down to the R and D room they saw Japan and some other men (Gilbert later found out that they were China and South Korea) who were fiddling around with computers and odd electronic devices that Gilbert didn't know the function of.

China quickly did a few simple tests to see how well Canada's reflexes, eyes sight and blood pressure was. "Everything seems to be okay, aru. Just need to do a stress test. Anyone know if the treadmill is still broken?"

"I fixed it a few hours ago." said South Korea happily. He walked over to Canada and pulled off his jacket and dumped it on the floor. He then pulled a marker out of his pocket and started to draw little crosses on Canada's back, arms, chest and forehead.

Gilbert leaned back in the swivel chair he had managed to find and raised an eyebrow. '_Is Canada getting plastic surgery or something?_'

"What are you doing?" asked Canada nervously.

"Don't worry, Canada-san." said Japan, "The markings are only a guide for where to put the sensors." To emphasize his point he stuck a sticky sensor pad above Canada's left eye.

"And one on the right side!" exclaimed South Korea and he stuck a sensor above Canada's right eye. Gilbert did his best to supress himself from laughing at Canada, he reminded him of a depressed cricket.

"Could you also take off your pants, aru?" asked China.

Canada's eyes almost popped out of his head in shock, "What? Why?"

"We just need to stick a few sensors to your legs, Canada-san." said Japan, "It's nothing to worry about… Unless you aren't wearing underwear, like a certain Frenchman."

Canada blushed, "I am wearing underwear… Fine." Canada quickly dropped his pants and stood there in his underwear as South Korea quickly drew a few more crosses on him. Canada's blush darkened dramatically.

By the time the Asian nations were done, Canada had about thirty different sensor pads all over him. Gilbert thought it was hilarious, but decided not to voice his opinion in case it just embarrassed the poor Canadian further.

Japan walked over to a computer and pressed a few buttons, "Okay. Are we ready to start the stress test?"

China nodded and led Canada into a room. When Canada was gone he walked over to South Korea, who was playing a DS game, and Japan, who was watching the computer screen, occasionally adjusting a few things.

"So, what does this do?" asked Gilbert.

Japan moved the curser over three different line graphs, "This monitors his bpm, or beats per minute, in red. The one under it measures his brainwaves in blue. We mainly use it to see if there is a similar spike or drop between the heart and mental functions."

"What about the last one?" asked Gilbert.

"Ah… That one is a little difficult to explain." said Japan. He frowned as he tried to think of how he could explain it in a way Gilbert could understand, "You understand that countries are different from normal humans, right? Everything that is this world emits a small amount of radiation. Most of it is in extremely small doses, so small that they are almost unrecognizable. Countries emit a different kind of radiation. It's directly connected to our ability to cast magic, but most of us are unable to control it, so we just don't use it. The only ones that have been able to channel that energy effectively without killing themselves are Norway-san and England-san. Also, it's monitored in green."

"Killing themselves?" asked Gilbert.

Japan nodded, "Oh yes. Without control and practice that can take hundreds of years to master, a country can become feral and violent." Japan thought for a second, "It's said that some of the ancient countries went rabid and were put down -so to speak- before they killed themselves. Quite a sad fate really."

For some reason, an uncomfortable knot started to settle in his stomach, "Are there symptoms?"

"There are a few." said Japan. He seemed to be in deep thought, recalling information he hadn't needed to know for many years. "Mood swings -usually violent ones-, brutality that is almost animalistic, and usually the eyes change colour. They either turn a dark murky colour or red."

Gilbert frowned. That description sounded slightly familiar. When he realized why, his eyes went wide with shock, '_Holy crap! Back when the Brotherhood kidnapped us, Canada went… Holy crap!_'

"Are you okay Gilbert-san?" asked Japan.

Gilbert nodded, "Yeah I'm fine I just-"

"Let's start this already, aru." said China as he walked back in. He walked over to another computer and pressed a few buttons and the wall in front of the computers changed into a window. Through the window Gilbert could see Canada standing on a treadmill looking extremely uncomfortable.

South Korea paused his game and picked up a small microphone. "Okay, Canada, we're going to start the stress test now. Give us the thumbs up if you're good to go."

Canada smiled and gave them the thumbs up. China pressed a button and the treadmill started moving at walking pace. Gilbert glanced over at Japan's computer and saw that the green, blue and red lines popped up on the line graphs. From Japan's lack of reaction he could assume that all was normal.

After a few minutes at walking pace, the treadmill slowly started to speed up to a brisk jog. The graph measuring heart rate slowly started to rise, but not by that much and the green line jumped a little but nothing to be concerned about.

China took the microphone off South Korea. "We're going to start playing some different sounds to see how you react, okay?" He clicked on a few icons and the treadmill sped up more and Canada quickly looked around as though he heard something.

"Sound-proof room?" asked Gilbert.

"Yep." said South Korea as he started to play his game again.

"What kind of sounds do you play?" asked Gilbert curiously.

"A bit of this and a bit of that." said China, "It's usually a mix between things like birdcalls and a horror soundtrack."

"Why a horror soundtrack?" asked Gilbert.

"It's a stress test." said China, "The point of the stress test is to see how different people react under a stressful situation. Besides, it's funny to see America jump out of his skin when he hears a chainsaw revving up, followed by a scream."

Gilbert chuckled, "Yeah, I can imagine."

"He almost wet himself." grinned South Korea, "Yes! Next level!"

China rolled his eyes and started to type a few commands into the keyboard. Slowly the treadmill started to speed up and tilt upwards so that Canada was running up a small incline.

"Interesting…" muttered Japan, "China-san, what sounds are he listening to now?"

"Mainly horror screams and creepy voices." said China, "Why?"

Gilbert looked over Japan's shoulder and saw that the green line graph was jumping around erratically and his heart rate was speeding up, "Is that supposed to happen?" asked Gilbert.

"Not really." said Japan, "The 'magic levels' are meant to be fewer than one thousand with occasional peaks above one thousand and two. But here it's over one thousand with occasional peaks beneath fifty."

"Under fifty!" yelled South Korea and China in unison.

"Um… I'll take it as that's bad." said Gilbert.

China pushed Gilbert out of the way to get a better look at the screen, "How is he still alive aru?"

"Shouldn't he be dead?" asked South Korea, "Or at least turning feral?"

"This is impossible." said China.

"But here it is." said Japan, "Perhaps there's something wrong with the sensor pads?"

"That has to be it." said China.

Gilbert frowned. He didn't like being kept out of the loop, "What's going on? What's with all the drama?"

The three Asian nations ignored him and kept looking over Japan's results and Canada, "This isn't possible!"

"But everything checks out."

"He should be dead, aru."

"Maybe a cable is loose?"

"Maybe one of the sensors is off? That happened last time, remember?"

"But that just turned off the system."

Gilbert rolled his eyes. Obviously asking nicely wasn't going to get him anywhere with those three. He picked up his chair and dropped it on the ground. The noise made the three Asian's jump and look at the albino. "Now that I have your attention, what the hell are you talking about?" asked Gilbert.

"It's complicated." said China, "It's very hard to understand."

"Because I'm not a country?" snapped Gilbert.

"Pretty much." said South Korea, "Um… What does that flashing light mean again?" He was pointing to a flashing red light at the bottom of Japan's computer. Japan's facial expression immediately turned to one of horror.

He grabbed the microphone and turned down the sounds that Canada was hearing. "You need to calm down Canada-san!" He said very quickly, "You're overloading the system! If you don't calm down, you could blow it up!" He put the microphone down and turned to China, "Turn off the treadmill. This test is over."

China nodded and quickly turned off the treadmill. But even though the treadmill had come to a stop Canada's heart rate was still climbing and the green line was still jumping around dramatically.

South Korea sighed and stood up, "Nice knowing you guys. I'm getting the hell out of here." He quickly stood up and started to run.

"Get back here, aru!" cried China. While China was trying to stop South Korea from running away, Japan was trying desperately to stop the computer from overloading.

"I have to reroute the system, but that will take too much time!"

Gilbert looked into the room where Canada was, seeing him hyperventilating and looking like he was either going to pass out or vomit. Maybe both. Gilbert gulped and quickly glanced around the room until his eyes settled on the microphone. He quickly picked it up. He wasn't sure what he was meant to say, all he knew was that he needed to calm the poor Canadian down.

"Birdie," He tried to say soothingly, "it's okay. Just calm down, okay? I know you can do that. Just breathe."

"His heart rate is dropping." said a very relieved Japan, "Keep going, Gilbert-san."

Gilbert nodded and kept talking, "That's it, Canada. Easy does it. You don't want to hurt yourself, right?"

After a while, Canada's heart rate returned to normal and he shook his head before slowly walking out of the room. When he was back in the room with Gilbert and the Asian nations, he blushed, "Sorry… I had a flashback in there. I didn't mean to screw up your equipment."

Japan sighed and handed Canada his clothes, "It's fine… I think some of the sensors are broken. Perhaps we can do this test another time?"

Canada nodded as he quickly took the sensors off his body and put on his clothes, "Yeah… That's probably for the best. Let's go, Gilbert."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

When they were safely in the hall Gilbert cleared his throat, "What happened?"

"A flashback." said Canada simply, "The sounds they were using for the stress test triggered them. That's all."

Gilbert nodded, "Can I ask what the flashback was?"

Canada bit his bottom lip and looked away, "It wasn't anything specific… Just a bunch of noises and the horrible feeling that I couldn't do anything to save them…"

"Oh… Sorry." muttered Gilbert. He didn't mean to upset Canada further.

"It's fine." said Canada, even though it was obvious that it wasn't since his voice was trembling slightly, "Let's just not talk about it, okay?"

Gilbert nodded. He didn't want to push anything with Canada. If Canada wanted to talk to him about it, he would eventually.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat:** Tada! Please review.


	43. One Year Later

**Shinigami-cat:** What's this? A time skip? Why yes it is… I OWN NOTHING!

**One year later**

Many things had changed over the past year. America's eyes grew back, although he had to get better lenses in his glasses to see properly. Germany's intolerance for Gilbert had slowly started to decline. He no longer hated him, but he didn't want to spend lots of time with him. Hunter's attacks had grown more frequent and more brutal. Ukraine eventually came to England's house with her group.

As for Gilbert himself he had learnt more about each country, specifically Canada. He was a very shy and secretive person. He didn't really like to talk about himself, but he had started to open up a little to the albino. Gilbert really liked that. Every time Canada shared something personal with him, no matter how good or bad it was it made Gilbert happy. It made him feel like Canada really trusted him. But occasionally it felt like it was a little more than trust with him, but he didn't mind.

At the moment Gilbert and Canada were sitting on a stone bench in the court yard talking about random stuff. Gilbert loved it when Canada smiled and laughed. He didn't seem to do much of that these days. "Do you ever think about what will happen when you go home?" Asked Canada as he picked the petals off a rose.

Gilbert shrugged. "Not really. I mean the stuff here's too hectic. I can't even think about anything other than the here and now."

Canada frowned but nodded. "Yeah… It's a bit like that huh?"

Gilbert nodded in agreement. "Yeah… Can I ask you something personal?"

"What?"

"How did you and Hunter meet?" Asked Gilbert.

Canada froze for a second. "I… He just turned up one day in my living room. That's the first time I met him. If I knew this would have happened I would have killed him right there before anything happened."

Gilbert nodded. "Okay. You don't have to say anything else. I know it's difficult for you."

Canada smiled. "Thanks." He dropped the rose in his hand and sighed. "Do you think they are still looking for you back home?"

Gilbert hadn't really thought about it much over the past year. He didn't really want think about it. He felt guilty for leaving Ludwig alone with their grandpa. He also felt bad for leaving Francis and Antonio without even so much as a goodbye. Everyone probably thought that he was dead anyway. "Probably not. They all think I'm dead."

"What are you going to say when you get back?" Asked Canada curiously.

Gilbert shrugged. "I honestly have no idea. What can I say? Hi everyone! I have spent the last year and a bit in an alternate universe where there are zombie things called Plagues that were created by a psycho called Hunter? I'd get locked up."

"Go with amnesia." Said Canada. "They'll believe that."

"And where would I have been living this whole time?" Asked Gilbert.

Canada shrugged. "Russia, Africa, Germany, France and England. Say you went on a gap year."

"No one will believe that." Said Gilbert. He picked a rose bud from the bush and started to pull off the petals. He liked the soft feel against his skin. It was a nice feeling. "I'll just say I got drugged with something."

"A plausible excuse." Said Canada. He picked up another flower and started to pull off the petals. "… I miss Prussia."

"He was really special to you." Said Gilbert. "It's only natural to miss him. I still miss Matthew, but you know what?"

Canada raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Gilbert grinned. "About a year and a bit ago a wise guy pulled me out of the sea and told me to live my life for Matthew, since he isn't here anymore."

Canada chuckled. "A wise guy?"

"Okay, an old man." Said Gilbert with a smirk.

Canada pouted. "I'm not that old. France and Spain are way older."

Gilbert shrugged and stood up. "Well I'm starving. Want to get something to eat?"

Canada shrugged and followed him. "Why not?"

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

The dining hall was large and surprisingly busy. As it turns out someone, more than likely Scotland or Ireland, had discovered a secret bunker full of whisky, wine and beer that had been fermenting since the Hundred Years war and everyone was just itching to get a taste.

It wasn't long before Canada and Gilbert had at least three different kinds of beer and wine in them and were sitting comfortably with France, Spain and America. There were sharing two bottles of red wine.

"I say as long as you aren't operating heavy machinery, I don't care if you drink." Said America as he poured himself another glass. His eyes had grown back, but they were a duller shade of blue.

"Good to know." Said Gilbert with his wine in hand. "Because I've been drinking long before you said it was okay." France and Spain started laughing and Canada cracked a genuine smile. It was nice to see him smile, he hardly did anymore. It made him feel warm inside. He liked it.

"Oh America, you're too much sometimes." Said France. He swirled his wine in his hand before taking a quick sip. "So ridiculous."

America poked out his tongue. "Shut up Francy pants. I'm awesome."

"No one is as awesome as me." Said Gilbert. "Well… maybe Prussia, but we're pretty much the same person. Spain! More wine."

Spain grinned and poured more wine into Gilbert's cup. "Has anyone seen Roma lately? I think he switched patrol shifts with someone." Patrol was common practice these days. A few people would venture up to the surface to sound the alarm if Plagues were attacking.

"Maybe he switched so he can protect his little brother." Said France. "You know he is very protective of Italy, even if he doesn't say so."

"Germany can take care of him." Said Gilbert. Out of the corner of his eye he happened to spy an unhappy Italian. "There he is."

Spain's eyes lit up as soon as he saw Romano. He jumped up and ran over to him. "Roma!" He cried. Romano jumped and ran for the door, Spain eagerly took chase.

France, America and Gilbert laughed. Spain was so stupid sometimes. Gilbert looked over at Canada and frowned. The Canadian had gone quiet and was slowly swirling the wine glass in his hand. Gilbert hated it when Canada was like this. He had learnt that when Canada goes quiet his mind is usually in darker places. Places that they shouldn't be.

"What's up Canada?" Asked Gilbert, hoping that talking to him would snap him out of his dazed state.

Canada just sighed and shook his head. "Nothing… I'm going back to our room. Try not to get too drunk." He stood up and turned to leave but Gilbert caught his arm.

"Are you sure?" Asked Gilbert. "You know you can tell me if something's up."

Canada smiled reassuringly. "I'm fine Gilbert. Really I am." Gilbert could tell that Canada was lying, but let his arm go anyway.

"Okay… See you later then."

Canada smiled and quickly walked out of the room. When he was gone Gilbert sighed dramatically and rested his chin against the table. He hated it when Canada would just lock him out.

America sighed sadly. "Canada always tries too hard."

"Agreed." Muttered France. "He ignores his injuries, wounds, pain, emotions, everything."

America nodded and drank straight from the wine bottle. "Yeah. Even though we worry about him he tries to act strong… He needs to know it's okay to cry once in a while…"

France picked up his cup and sipped. "Those with powerful desires never reflect upon themselves until that desire is fulfilled. Because of that they become very strong, but fail to see how much pain they put through those who watch over them… It reminds me of you and England."

America pouted. "Well he taxed the hell out of me."

France shrugged and passed America a beer. "Well… He had to. His bosses made him."

"Speaking of England…" Said Gilbert. "Isn't that him stripping down to his boxers over there?"

Sure enough a very drunken England was attempting to take off his shirt. America laughed and stood up. "Well it looks like the hero has a job to do. Later you two."

France and Gilbert waved goodbye to America as he walked over to England. Gilbert watched for a bit as America tried to subdue the drunken Brit but he was pulled out of it when he heard a wine glass hit the table.

"What's wrong Gilbert?" Asked France.

"Nothing." Said Gilbert. "Well… actually Canada…"

France nodded knowingly. "Ah, I see. Love."

Gilbert's head snapped around to face France. "What? Love? Are you nuts? I don't love him."

France shrugged. "Love knows no boundaries Gilbert. Even we immortal countries can be affected by the charms of humans and so too are humans taken by the beauty and mystery of countries. But alas these affairs can never last long. Tragedy will only follow those who peruse that path."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"You are confused. Let me explain." Said France. He took a deep breath and sighed. "Well you see, countries are not supposed to fall in love with humans. Even though there is no written rule it's just one of those unspoken rules that one does not break. It only leads to broken hearts in the end." He tapped his chin for a second before pointing over towards England, who was struggling to get out of America's grip. "For example England fell for a human once, Queen Elizabeth no less."

Gilbert's jaw dropped in shock. "What? But didn't she look like a horse later on? I mean lead foundation's going to leave scars."

France shrugged. "It didn't matter to England. He loved her until she died. After which he became severely depressed. At one point he was actually contemplating ending himself, but he couldn't do it." He looked over at a man with a large nose and a scarf, a sad smile tugged at his lips. "Russia fell for Anastasia. He almost went insane when she was murdered by the Bolshevik secret police. Ever since then his view on love has become warped and distorted… quite sad really."

Gilbert frowned and nodded. "Yeah… That's really horrible."

France nodded in agreement. "Indeed. America wasn't immune to the charms of human women either. Ever heard of Amelia Earhart?"

Gilbert nodded. "Yeah she… Oh…"

"She disappeared over the Pacific Ocean." Said France. "America was so distressed he learnt how to fly so he could join in the search… I too fell for a human. Jeanne d'Arc, also known as Joan of Ark. She was such a beautiful girl. I've never really forgiven England for letting his people burn her alive."

Gilbert patted France on the back. "Sorry for your loss, but what does this have to do with me exactly?"

France sighed sadly. "Do you know that Canada and Prussia were in a romantic relationship before Prussia's passing?"

Gilbert sighed, remembering when he and Canada were in that marble forest. "Yep. Pretty much."

"Good." Said France. "I won't have to waste time explaining then." He leaned back slightly, stretching his back. "Well from the way I've seen Canada act around you… He may not realize he loves you, but I the country of love know better. He's just afraid that something horrible will happen if he realizes his feelings for you."

Gilbert's face went bright red with shock and embarrassment. "No way. I just… He treats me like a little kid! He never trusts me to be anywhere alone. Hell I have to threaten him to get him to stay still and recover from whatever injury he gets!"

France chuckled lightly at how flustered Gilbert had become all of a sudden. "Well… Canada is a fragile little thing… He's been hurt so many times before and he worries about outliving he partner. He almost died when Prussia passed away. He just has it set in his mind that a romantic relationship with anyone will end in heart break."

"That's sad…" Muttered Gilbert. "But he doesn't love me. I know it. He just sees me as a kid."

"Well how do you see him?" Asked France. "Do you see him as a country? A human? A friend? Something more?"

Gilbert frowned and swirled his wine in his glass. '_How do I see Canada? Well… I see him as Canada. And to me Canada is… A friend? I guess… I mean I also see him as a person. I can't really see him as a country, even though he is. But he's definitely nothing more than a friend to me._'

"Well?" Asked France. "What is your answer? What is Canada to you?"

"A friend." Said Gilbert. "To me Canada is a friend. A good friend. Nothing more. I don't like him the way you think I should."

France laughed and drank the rest of his wine. "Oh Gilbert, don't you see the way he acts around you? He shelters you from his pain even though it's obvious… But at least his flash backs aren't as bad as before."

"What happened before?" Asked Gilbert.

France sighed. "Well… I'm not sure exactly how he happened when America first found him, but when I came to visit him he kept telling me to go away. It was quite sad really. That's why I'm glad that you two are getting along so well."

Gilbert frowned and went back to resting his chin on the table. Even though he had known Canada for so long he still felt like he knew so little. Perhaps Canada would never fully open up to him.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat:** Yep so that's that… please review.


	44. Abomination

**Shinigami-cat:** Well I hope you all like this. This is done in Canada's point of view. Also I'm readying myself for some possibly angry people. You'll know why when you read Also I'm announcing a contest. For those that have a deviantart account I ask you to come up with a cover for this. I'll choose the best pic in two months. It's just for fun so yeah… I OWN NOTHING!

**Abomination**

Canada was sitting in his room. He was looking up at one corner of the roof where a spider happened to be sitting in its web. A small insect happened to get caught in the web. The spider quickly scuttled over to it and bit it, paralysing it instantly before wrapping it up in its web.

Canada gulped as he watched. He could almost feel the spider biting into his own neck and wrapping him in that silk. In the back of his head he could hear maniacal laughter playing over and over. It was driving him insane.

"Stop it." He hissed to himself. "I'm not there. I'm here. I'm safe. I'm not there. No one is going to attack me here." Gradually he began to calm down. He hated how afraid he was becoming. He knew it was because he was back in his own world. Closer to Hunter. Hunter. That thing was always a constant threat and tormentor to Canada and the rest of the world.

Canada hated everything that reminded him of Hunter, because if something reminded him of Hunter he would think of Hunter, then he would always remember in graphic detail everything that happened. Every cut, every broken bone, every lie and all the other horrible things that happened to him. When that happened it would almost always led to a panic attack, and when he had panic attacks bed things happened.

He pulled his eyes away from the spider pulled his knees up to his chest, shivering slightly. "I hate him." He muttered. "I hate him. I hate him. I hate him. I wish he would just die already… I don't want to be a part of his world."

Slowly the door opened up and Gilbert walked inside. "Hey Canada." He said. "Feeling any better?"

Canada shook his head. "No. I feel sick… But it's okay. I'll get over it. It's nothing. I just need to sit still for a bit and it should pass. Nothing I can't handle alone."

Gilbert sighed and sat next to Canada. "Forever alone huh? You know there are some things that people can't handle alone. Sometimes you need to talk to someone about it."

"I'm the personification of a country." Said Canada. "Countries can handle anything that gets thrown at them. Both physical and mental. There's nothing a human can do for me that I'm not capable of doing myself."

Gilbert frowned and brushed some hair out of Canada's face. "I don't care if you're a personified country or not. Everyone needs to ask for help every now and then. You more than anyone should know that."

Canada sighed and looked away. "Whatever."

"Hey look at me." Said Gilbert softly. Canada lazily turned his head and looked into Gilbert's red eyes. "I want to help you. You know I do. Why don't you believe me?"

Canada sighed sadly. "I do believe you. But you don't know what you're getting yourself into. How can you? You don't belong in this world."

A small frown tugged at Gilbert's lips. He gently caressed Canada's cheek and leaned in dangerously close to Canada's lips. "Then tell me. Tell me so I can help you."

Canada's face burned red with embarrassment. "I can't tell you." He whispered. "If you knew everything you would hate me."

"I could never hate you." Whispered Gilbert. "How could I hate someone I love?" He gently pressed their lips together. Almost immediately Canada kissed back. Gilbert laced his fingers in Canada's hair and wrapped his other arm around the Canadian's waist. Canada wrapped his arms around Gilbert's back, keeping him close.

Suddenly Gilbert's tongue gently brushed against Canada's bottom lip, asking for entrance, which Canada gladly gave him. He moaned softly as he felt Gilbert tongue rub against his own. After a few moments they pulled back for air. Their hearts were beating rapidly and their eyes were clouded with lust.

"I love you Canada." Said Gilbert. "I won't let anyone hurt you again."

"I love you too." Said Canada.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Canada's eyes snapped open. He slowly sat up and ran his fingers through his hair. '_The same damn dream again… Every time we keep going further… Crap next time we might actually end up doing it…_'

He looked to his side and saw Gilbert peacefully sleeping. He couldn't help but feel a little guilty. He should be in control of his own thoughts and desires. He should have been able to stop himself from dreaming about Gilbert in that way, but ever since he had kissed him his mind had occasionally slipped into such thoughts.

'_No. It's just… I don't even know. I don't like Gilbert like that. Stupid dreams. Stupid brain. I've never thought about him like this before. Why now? Stupid kiss. Stupid everything._' He hated his mind so much.

Suddenly the door opened and in walked France. "Canada, Gilbert? Are you two awake yet?"

Gilbert rolled onto his stomach. "Five more minutes…" He muttered sleepily.

Canada sighed. "What's wrong Papa?"

France shrugged and sat on the floor at the foot of the mattress. "Nothing really. England and Germany just thought it was best to have a _World meeting_ to decide what to do about Hunter."

"Isn't the plan to try and kill him in battle?" Asked Canada half-heartedly. He honestly didn't care how Hunter was killed anymore. As long as he dies he would be happy.

"But this time we mean permanently." Said France. The tone of how he had said it was dark and almost foreboding. It made Canada shudder.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"You'll find out later at the meeting." Said France. He stood up and ruffled Canada's hair. "The meeting will take place in half an hour. Don't be late."

Canada nodded. "Yes Papa."

When he was gone Gilbert rolled onto his back. "So… What's with this meeting thing? Will there be beer?"

"No." Said Canada. He got up and put on his shoes. "But it'll more than likely end in a fist fight."

"Sweet." Said Gilbert with a devilish grin. "I live for fights."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Pretty much everyone was there at the meeting except for Italy and Romano, they were on patrol. Gilbert was allowed into the meeting because he promised that he would shut the hell up and not talk. He was sitting with his back against the wall listening in and Canada was sitting in his chair at the table wishing that everyone would start making rational suggestions about how to get rid of Hunter.

"I say we use nukes!" Said America. "Blast them out of the sky."

"Nuclear radiation doesn't kill Plagues." Said China. "And if that can't kill Plagues I highly doubt that it will kill Hunter."

"My country will not get covered in radiation." Snapped England.

"Can we at least blow it up?"

"But who's to say that Hunter will even be there? He could be flying on that stupid eagle."

"How the hell would we even know where that floating island is anyway? It's covered in clouds! We don't even have any satellites to scan for it either."

"Why don't we just launch missiles into the sky? One of them is bound to hit it."

Canada sighed and rubbed his temples. '_This is getting nowhere… Should have stayed in bed. I could think of a better plan with both my arms tied behind my back._' He sighed and slammed his head against the table and sighed. Nothing could make this day any worse than it already was.

Apparently some higher power had other ideas because at that moment Italy and Romano came bursting through the door carrying a brown rug. They both looked ill and were covered in blood.

"What happened Romano?" Asked Spain.

"Sh-shut up bastard." Stuttered Romano. He and Italy put the rug onto the table and let it unfurl to reveal a dead Plague; its eyes were sunken in, mouth hanging open and its fat green tongue was lazily sticking out and its stomach was huge.

"What the hell?" Snapped England. "Get that thing out of here!"

"But this is important!" Said Italy frantically.

"It's starting to reek." Complained America. "Couldn't you have taken that thing down to R and D?"

"Shut up burger bastard." Snapped Romano. "You all have to see what's inside this fucker!" He pulled out a knife and stabbed the Plague right in the stomach and ripped down, spilling its guts everywhere. Everyone jumped back in disgust and some tried to stop themselves from vomiting.

"That's gross!"

"Why did you do that Romano?"

"That's feral!"

"Who's going to clean that up?"

"I think I'm going to be sick…"

"Why did you have to open it up here?"

"Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

Suddenly everyone went quiet and they sheared one look of confusion. Did they just hear a baby cry out? It wasn't possible. Was it? They took a closer look at the Plague and cried out in shock. There amongst the intestines and blood was a small, gooey, opaque blob, reaching out and crying. It was a baby Plague.

Romano suddenly brought down the knife, stabbing the baby Plague in its shapeless body, killing it instantly. "While on patrol some people found some fat Plagues collecting and eating the dead. We killed a couple of them but then we saw one of them breast feeding one of these things."

"They've evolved." Said Italy. His voice trembling with fear. "They won't need humans to turn into Plagues anymore. They'll just start farming them. Like cattle. We're just food to them. We're all going to die!"

After Italy's panicked rant everything went painfully quiet. England was the first to speak. "Get whatever missiles we have and aim them at the sky. The next time we see that place we'll blow it up. Even if we don't kill Hunter it'll slow him down."

"But there are people up there." Muttered Canada. He knew no one would hear him or pay attention to him anyway. "Blow up that place and you kill the humans there. But who cares. It's not like we even know if they are still alive anyway, so let's just blow up the damn place."

"You don't have to blow up the place." Said Gilbert, earning some harsh looks from other nations. He wasn't a country so he shouldn't speak. "Why don't you just send someone to kill him? You know, infiltrate the place then shoot him in the head. Then you're done. The war is over. You win."

England rolled his eyes. "Who the bloody hell would be crazy enough to do that?"

The room was silent. "Well if you countries don't have the balls to do it I will." Said Gilbert.

Canada's eyes went wide as saucers. '_Did he just volunteer to assassinate Hunter? No way! Hunter will kill him the second, and besides Gilbert still has to go home. Back to his own world. He has people waiting for him. His brother, his friends and I… I have nothing anymore…_'

"Dude that's suicide." Said America.

"America is right." Said France. "It's too dangerous."

"He'll kill you!" Cried Feliciano. "He'll chop you into little bits and feed you to the Grabbers!"

"I don't care." Snapped Gilbert. "What the hell have I done over the past year? Eat, sleep and get drunk. At least this way I can do something."

"No." Said Canada, for once his soft voice was heard above the noise. For once everyone was listening to him. "Hunter is my responsibility. I volunteer."

"How the hell is Hunter your responsibility?" Asked Gilbert.

Canada glared at the albino. "Hunter was born in my country. He killed my people. He tortured me. He's my responsibility. Hell because of him I'm not even a fucking country anymore!" Canada wasn't usually one for swearing, but when he did he was always really pissed. "He killed everyone in my country. Those who didn't die got turned into Plagues. What good is a country where there are no humans? I'm nothing but a country of Plagues!"

The room fell silent. Canada knew that everyone there knew about what happened to him, except for Gilbert. He didn't know the half of what Hunter had done to him. He took everything from him.

America put his hand on Canada's shoulder. "Canada… Bro… He'll kill you."

"No he won't." Said Canada. "He had years to do that."

"I forbid you to go." Said France. "You were on the verge of dying last time. You can't go there again you just-"

"Who else can you send?" Snapped Canada angrily. "I know that place better than anyone else. Hell none of you would even have those blueprints if it wasn't for me. I drew them up. I've memorized the whole place inside and out. I'm the best chance you've got to kill him."

"We can think of another plan." Said Germany. "An assassination would never work with him. Way to dangerous."

"We don't have time to think of another plan." Growled Canada. "Didn't you see that abomination? They can breed Germany. Plagues can breed. Almost took them a hundred years but they can breed and they have all the humans they could ever need in those farms. Enough cattle to last forever. Everyone here will die because they don't need us alive to breed."

"No!" Said France as he stood up. Canada had never seen him look so angry in his life. "You are not putting yourself in that situation again! You're an ex-nation now! You could die!"

Canada slammed his hands against the table and stood up. His eyes blazing with anger. "Ever think that I just don't care anymore? Who gives a fuck if I die now? You America and England didn't give a damn about me when everything was fine but as soon as the Plagues appear you notice me because you had to quarantine my country because you had no fucking clue as to how Plagues worked!" His heart was racing and adrenalin was pumping through his veins. "The only one who ever noticed me without having to be told who I was is dead. Why don't you just quit pretending that I matter! I'm nothing! I'm no one… Besides I have a score to settle with Hunter."

The room was silent for what seemed like an eternity until Gilbert cleared his throat. "Well you sure as hell aren't going alone. I'm going with you."

"You're staying here." Said Canada. "You still have to go home."

"I'm not going home until Hunter's dead." Snapped Gilbert. By the determined look in his eyes, nothing would change his mind.

Canada sighed. He would have to find a way to leave him behind later. Maybe he could sneak out while he was sleeping? "Fine. You can come…" He looked at France with angry eyes. "I will be going back there. I don't care what you say. Give me three months. By then Hunter will either be dead or I will. If I can't contact you, blow it up."

"No." Said France. "You are not going. End of story. You will stay here, where it's safe."

"Open your eyes France!" Screamed Canada. "Nowhere on this earth is safe. This place is just a box! When Hunter decides to destroy this place we'll all be trapped! This place only gives the illusion of safety!"

"I agree with Canada." Said England calmly.

France's jaw dropped. "How can you say that? You raised him! Letting him go will be like leading a lamb to slaughter!"

"Think rationally you twat." Snapped England. "We always knew that assassination might be the best way of disposing that bastard but we never bothered to try because we had no idea how to get someone up there to do it." He looked over at France and smiled cruelly. "If Canada has a plan I say we at least hear him out before we totally cut him down. Canada?"

Canada thought for a second. "Slaves… Every now and then a shipment of humans is sent up to the Bird Cage for both food and slaves. By becoming a slave I can access all areas within reason, and if I take one of Norway's shape-shifting potions Hunter won't recognise me at all. From there it'll be easy enough to kill him."

"It won't work." Said France. "He will recognise you no matter what you do."

"Then I'll just have to change my plan when and if I get caught." Said Canada. He pushed his chair back and walked towards the door. "It's decided then. I'll kill Hunter and that's that. Someone get rid of that Plague. It's starting to rot."

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat:** I don't even know anymore… Please review.


	45. Loose Ends

**Shinigami-cat: **Hey people! This week it's my birthday so yay for me! I hope you all like the next chapter … I OWN NOTHING!

**Loose Ends**

After the meeting Canada seemed to disappear. It worried Gilbert greatly. He had so many questions about Canada and not nearly enough answers. His search for Canada eventually led him to a small private room. There wasn't much in that room; a table, a few chairs and a Canadian repeatedly hitting his head into a wall.

Gilbert cautiously walked over to him. "Um… you okay there?"

Canada sighed. "I'm an idiot… I just volunteered to go back to the place I promised myself I would never go back to… To kill the man that scares me so much… I'm a stupid moron."

"You don't have to go." Said Gilbert. "I can go by myself."

Canada shook his head. "No… If you go you'll almost certainly die. I can promise you that." He slowly moved away from the wall and sighed sadly. A small patch of red was on the wall and a small stream of blood was drizzling out of his newly formed head wound.

Gilbert's eyes went wide. "Damn it Canada! How long have you been doing that?"

"A few minutes." Said Canada. "If you're going to freak out over a small cut like this you won't survive in the Bird Cage."

Gilbert sighed and dabbed some of the blood off Canada's face with the sleeve of his shirt. "Canada… I don't think you should go back. You can't… I mean you freaked out just now. If you go back there who knows what will happen to you?"

Canada shrugged. "Not sure… But I really don't want you to come with me. You have people waiting for you back home."

"It doesn't matter." Said Gilbert. "I don't want to go back if that means Hunter can still hurt you… If it comes down to it I'll die in this world."

Canada shook his head. "Don't say that… No one wants to die in any world."

"But to die in the place of a friend is a pretty good way to go." Said Gilbert. He sighed and looked away from Canada. "Look… Back when we were at that pub in France I met an Oracle, and she said something about going to the Bird Cage, so maybe it's my destiny to go there…"

"The future isn't set in stone Gilbert." Said Canada. He lightly touched the cut on his forehead and frowned. "Probably shouldn't have hit the wall that hard…"

Gilbert nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I don't think the wall needed a blood donation… What did you mean when you said you're not a country anymore?"

Canada sighed and sat on a chair. "Long story short when I met Hunter he told me what was happening to my people. He said that I could either try and kill him or try to save some people. I chose the latter option and watched my people burn…" he shuddered slightly at the memories that were starting to play through his head. "It wasn't until after Hunter captured me did I learn that everyone in my country was either dead or a Plague."

"I'm sorry." Said Gilbert. "I can't imagine how that must feel."

"Yeah…" Muttered Canada. "The people from my country were like my family. When they just… It hurt a lot."

Gilbert sighed and gently placed his hand on Canada's shoulder. "That's why we're both going to go up there and kill Hunter."

"I still think it's a bad idea." Said Canada. "It's a one way trip. There's no turning back. You'll more than likely die if you go."

"If I die I'll die." Said Gilbert with a shrug. "There's nothing much I can do if my time is up."

Canada just looked at Gilbert in disbelief. "Why? Why do you seem so… So matter a fact about death? Why have you just accepted it?"

"I'm human." Said Gilbert, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "And being human means I can't live forever. I have to live my life with as few regrets as possible, because if I don't my life would have been for nothing. The only thing I could ever regret was not being with Matthew during his final moments."

"That doesn't give you the right to throw yourself into life or death situations!" Cried Canada. "I promised that I would keep you safe! You have to stay here! In a few months England can send you back home and you can forget all this. Just pretend like this nightmare never happened."

Gilbert was taken aback. "What? Forget this? How could I just forget? If anything I'm going to have nightmares about this for years!" It was true to. After all he had seen he would never get those images out of his head. All the death, all the monsters, all the pain, all the horror… It was burned into the back of his mind like a photo. Film negatives just waiting to be developed.

"I'm so sorry." Said Canada. He buried his face in his hands and sobbed slightly. "I'm so, so sorry about everything…"

Gilbert sighed and pulled Canada's hands away from his face. "Stop being sorry." He said. "Stop thinking about all the things that you could have done and start thing about the things you can do. You can't take back what Hunter did to you but you can make him pay."

"Pay?" Asked Canada a hint of sarcasm laced his voice. "How the hell can I make him pay? He is a monster that just wants to watch the world burn. Everything he does, he does because he's board. He's a sociopath, a narcissist, a sadist, a monster made from death because he is death."

"If it bleeds it can die." Said Gilbert. "It doesn't matter how fucked in the head he is he's not immortal."

Canada laughed. "He may as well be! I shoved some metal in his eye and still he beat the living crap out of me before pulling out of his own eye and stabbing me in the kidney… Wonder if the lazy ass has clean up the blood yet."

Gilbert smiled half-heartedly. "Don't worry Canada. This time it'll be different. This time I'll be there for you. I won't let Hunter hurt you this time."

Canada sighed and started to walk towards the door. "You shouldn't make promises you can't keep." He muttered sadly.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Gilbert couldn't sleep. He kept thinking about what it would be like in the Bird Cage. His mind was Plagues with images of stone castles, alien like structures and possibly even weird combinations of fantasy, sci fi and horror. He tried not to move too much for Canada's sake. He didn't want to wake him up.

Suddenly he felt the mattress dip slightly as Canada sat up. Gilbert closed his eyes and lay perfectly still. He felt the mattress dip slightly as Canada slowly moved off it. There was the soft sound of feet padding across the floor and the sound of clothes rustling before the door was slowly opened. "I'm sorry Gilbert…" Whispered Canada. "It's too dangerous."

Canada slowly closed the door and left. As soon as he was gone Gilbert jumped to his feet and did a quick search of the room. All of Canada's stuff was gone. He was trying to leave without him. "Shit." Hissed Gilbert as he quickly put on his shoes and anything he needed.

As soon as he was dressed he quickly pulled open the door and quickly looked down the hallway. He just saw Canada turn a corner. '_You're not getting away that easily._' Thought Gilbert as he quickly followed.

He kept his distance as he followed; he assumed that if Canada saw him he would try to stop him from following. He looked around a corner and quickly moved back. Canada was talking to Norway.

"Take this when you need to." Said Norway. He handed Canada a small blue bottle. "After you drink it you have two months before it wears off."

"Two months?" Asked Canada. "But I said told everyone I'd kill Hunter in three months!"

"That's the best I can give you." Said Norway. "It's almost impossible to get any ingredients to make this kind of thing."

Canada sighed sadly. "Okay… I understand."

"Good luck Canada."

"Thank you."

Gilbert quickly looked around the corner and saw that Norway was gone and Canada was walking away. Gilbert once again followed him. For the most part it was pretty uneventful until France grabbed Canada and slammed him against a wall.

"Papa?" Cried Canada. "What are you going?"

"Please Canada, don't go." Said France, his normally confident voice was shaking horribly.

Canada sighed. "Not this again… Look I've made up my mind. I'm going. Now let me go!" He tried to push France away but was unable to.

"Please Canada. Listen to me." The Frenchman begged. "If you go there you will die! You won't survive. You'll die horribly and in unbearable pain!"

"I can handle it." Said Canada. "I survived before. Heck I even escaped."

"But you only just survived!" Snapped France. "And the only reason you escaped was because Hunter forgot to lock the door. You said so yourself. It was just dumb luck! Do you think you'll be as lucky this time?"

Things got quiet. Cautiously Gilbert peeked around the corner and saw France quietly sobbing while Canada was still leaning against the wall where France had pushed him earlier.

Canada looked at France with sad, guilty eyes. "I'm sorry Papa… But I have to do this… Please take care of Kuma when I'm gone."

"Please don't talk like you're never coming back." Said France.

"But you know I'm not coming back..." Said Canada sadly. "I know I'm not coming back… Everyone knows it… Please try to remember me when I'm gone. Not as a country, a victim or a hero… I just want to be remembered for being me. Canada."

"But you can't go." Said France. "Please Canada, if you won't stay for me stay for Gilbert. I know you care about him more than you should. I know you love him like how you loved Prussia."

Gilbert's heart skipped a beat. '_He loves me?_'

Canada blushed and looked away. "Love? If I love him it's because he reminds me too much of Prussia… and it's because of him that I have to go. If I stay here with him the harder it will be for me to see him go… England should be able to send him back soon I hope."

"That's no reason to throw yourself onto the knife!" Cried France. "You two were made for each other. This war shouldn't rip you two apart like that! Please Canada, stay here where it's safe… Please…"

Canada shook his head. "I'm sorry Papa… But I have to go now. Tell Gilbert I'm sorry… And I hope he can forget about me." He walked away from France and down to the stables.

France fell to his knees and started to cry uncontrollably. Gilbert gulped and started to quickly and quietly sneak past him. But France heard him. "You better protect my son Gilbert." He said. "If you don't… I'll never forgive you."

"I understand." Said Gilbert. "Goodbye France." He quickly moved to

"Goodbye Gilbert." Whispered France.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Gilbert walked into the stables, he had a pretty good idea of where Canada was heading. He walked over to where Kumajiro slept and looked inside; Canada was sitting with the toy sized Kumajiro on his lap.

Tears were starting to stream out of Canada's eyes while Kuma licked his hand in an attempt to comfort him. "I'm so scared Kuma." His whimpered.

"Stay." Said Kuma. "Don't go back."

Canada laughed half-heartedly at Kuma's words. "You've always been there for me Kuma, even when no one else could see me, you were always there… France will take care of you from now on okay? I won't be coming back."

Kuma looked up at Canada with his large black eyes. "I don't want you to go… I want you to stay."

Canada sighed and hugged Kuma tightly. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I never wanted this to happen… If I had just killed him when I saw him none of this would have happened."

"Not your fault." Said Kuma. "You didn't know. No one could have known this would have happened."

Canada smiled and patted Kuma before setting him on the ground. "Goodbye Kuma… I'll miss you." When he was done saying his final goodbye to Kuma he walked over to a door that was hidden behind a few barrels. He opened it and went inside. Gilbert quickly followed but not before taking one last look at Kuma; the poor polar bear was laying on its side making sorrowful little noises.

His heart ached for the poor little bear but he had to keep following Canada. He slipped through the door that Canada had gone through; it was a large dug out tunnel with a few torches attached to the walls to give some light.

Gilbert was surprised at how out of it Canada seemed. Several times he had stumbled and muttered a profanity under his breath but Canada didn't seem to notice at all. '_Crap he really isn't thinking things through properly is he? Some assassin he'll be._'

Soon enough a light appeared at the end of the tunnel and they were outside. The end of the tunnel led them to the edge of the battle field. As soon as they were outside Gilbert decided to announce his presence.

"You're a hypocrite Canada." He said.

Canada screamed in shock as he turned to face Gilbert. "Gilbert? What? I thought I left you back there! Why did you follow me? Go back right now! I'm not joking around here! You need to go back where it's safe!"

Gilbert shook his head, frowning. "You're a hypocrite Canada." He repeated. "When I decide to do something that could get me killed you tell me not to but then you go and do exactly what I said I would do. I'm not a little kid Canada. You can't make decisions for me. I'll do what I want, when I want because it's my choice."

"You have to go back." Said Canada, starting to panic. "You have no idea what's going on up there! There's a fifty precent chance that you'll die within the first five minutes of getting there!"

"Then what makes think you'll survive?" Asked Gilbert. He was sick of Canada's excuses. He just wanted to protect Canada. "I'm not objecting to you going there but I refuse to let you go alone."

Canada sighed sadly, his eyes swimming with sorrow. "Nothing will change your mind will it?"

"No." Said Gilbert. "I'm trying to live with as few regrets as possible from now on."

"I see..." Muttered Canada. He sighed and started to walk east from the tunnel. "Well we should get moving then… I hope you don't regret this, because a lot of things can and probably will go wrong."

Gilbert grinned and followed Canada. "How could I regret this? I was the one that wanted to go to the Bird Cage to begin with."

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat:** Hope you all liked this. Please review.


	46. Caught

**Shinigami-cat: **Hey people! Thanks for all the birthday wishes! It's nice to know that you all care… I OWN NOTHING!

**Caught**

After about half an hour of walking Canada sighed, "This is your last chance, Gilbert. Please go back."

"Not happening." said Gilbert, "You'll have to kill me if you don't want me to go."

"You're going to regret it." said Canada sadly, "You just don't know it yet."

Gilbert shrugged, "I don't care. If I regret this, I regret this. If I don't, I don't. It's as simple as that."

Canada sighed and pulled a small blue bottle out of his pocked, "May as well drink this now…"

Gilbert raised an eyebrow, "Ever drink one of those before?"

"Nope." said Canada. He pulled the cork out and sniffed it.

"What does it smell like?"

"Blue." said Canada, "With a hint of purple… Wish me luck." He quickly gulped down the liquid and coughed, "Gross. Tastes like spoilt milk."

Gilbert chuckled, "Maybe you have a dud?"

Canada sighed in disappointment, "I guess so. But Norway's really good wi-" His sentence was cut short when his body started to spasm dramatically and he fell to the floor.

Gilbert gasped in shock and quickly ran to his side, "Shit! What's happening? Is this supposed to happen? Are you okay, Canada?"

Canada started to whimper and he grabbed Gilbert's arm for support, "It burns…"

Gilbert held the Canadian close, he could feel the bones shifting under Canada's skin, "It's okay, Canada. Just breathe." He said, trying to sooth him.

Canada's hair started to straighten out and change to a dark brown colour. After a few more horrific seconds Canada stopped whimpering, "I think it's over…" He said, his voice slightly higher than normal. "Eh? What's with my voice and my hair?"

Quickly, he moved away from Gilbert and looked down at himself. Gilbert also looked at the Canadian, mouth slightly agape in shock. Canada looked like he was in his mid-teens, his hair was straight, brown, and short, and his eyes were now grass green colour. Gilbert couldn't help but laugh.

"What the fuck? You look like an idiot!" cried Gilbert between fits of laughter.

Canada pouted and tightened his belt, so as to keep his pants from falling off, "It's not funny!"

"You're right." said Gilbert, "It's hilarious!"

Canada huffed and crossed his arms, clearly upset, "Shut up, Gilbert. It's frustrating. I'm short again, I look like a teenager again, and I've probably just hit puberty… again!"

Gilbert chuckled and sighed, "Okay, Birdie. I get it. You don't like being a teen. It's not so bad."

"I haven't been a teen in a few hundred years." said Canada. "This sucks! I thought I was going to be my normal age but with different hair and eyes and stuff!"

Gilbert smiled, unable to keep a straight face at the poor Canadian. He just looked so cute, being all flustered about shrinking down and having to go through puberty again, "Okay, kid. I'm sorry."

"Kid?" cried Canada in frustration, "You're younger than me! The potion didn't change my actual age! It just disguised it!"

Gilbert chuckled, "Yeah, I know… So, how exactly are we getting up there? We can't fly up."

"We won't need to fly up there." said Canada as he attempted to adjust his jacket to fit his now shorter and slender frame. "We just need to get caught by some Grabbers or find some G-Plagues that are sending some humans up there… Personally, I'd go with the G-Plagues. I don't think it would be very fun to get swallowed and regurgitated by a Grabber… Especially when there's a fifty-fifty chance that they'll actually eat you."

"…I vote for G-Plagues too." said Gilbert, "Sounds less messy… and life threatening… Plus, those things freak me out."

Canada nodded in agreement, "Yeah… Let's head north. There's probably a pickup area there."

So they set off North. They had travelled nonstop for the better part of the day. Along the way, they had met a few Grabbers, but they were easily dealt with. All in all, it was a good day. By the time dusk started to roll in, they were starting to consider setting up camp for the night.

Gilbert sighed as he leaned against a rock, "Think we could stop here?"

"I guess…" muttered Canada, "But I really wanted to get there today. That's why I drank that potion. I don't have anything to hunt with or eat…"

Gilbert chuckled and pulled a small bag of instant bread, "Do you have any water?" Canada grinned. So they ate their bread in peace and settled into an easy silence. Gilbert had missed these moments. They were nice quiet moments where they could just forget about everything and just enjoy each other's company.

Soon the stars started to come out and it started to get cold. They were both too lazy to start a fire so they just ended up sitting next to each other to stay warm.

Gilbert sighed as he thought about what he had heard France say. '_Canada love's me? Impossible… and even if he does we don't even really know each other, do we? I mean, I know some stuff about him and he knows some stuff about me, but if we got together I'd just feel like a replacement._' He yawned and shuffled a little closer to Canada, purely to keep warm.

Canada sighed and rested his head against Gilbert's shoulder, "It's really going to end soon, isn't it?" He muttered, "What did that oracle tell you, anyway?"

"When the treasure is found, the lovers reunite and the forgotten names are spoken, this war will end and Hunter will die." recited Gilbert lazily.

"Do you think they meant figuratively or literally?" asked Canada.

Gilbert shrugged, "I have no idea. Could all be literal, could all be figurative, or a mix of both. Why do you ask?"

Canada shifted slightly, "No reason." He muttered, "I just wanted to know your thoughts on the matter." He looked up at Gilbert with sad eyes, "Gilbert, can you promise me something?"

"Sure." said Gilbert with a smile.

"If I tell you to do something, can you promise me you'll do it?" He asked.

Gilbert raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

"Because it's really dangerous up there." said Canada in a serious tone, "Unless you know what you're doing up there, you'll die… or be taken away for testing…"

"Testing?"

Canada nodded and shuddered, "Yeah, testing. They make biological weapons and perform bizarre experiments on humans and volunteer Plagues. All in the name to evolve their species. They want to be the strongest, smartest, stealthiest, and possibly the most animalistic thing that's ever walked across the earth… I don't want them to use you as a guinea pig."

Gilbert smiled and patted Canada's head, "Okay. I promise I'll do what you tell me to do if my life is in danger."

Canada pushed Gilbert's hand away, "Quit it."

"You're hair's kind of spikey now." said Gilbert.

"It's also brown." deadpanned Canada, "What's your point?"

Gilbert smirked, "No need to get defensive. I think it looks good on you. An interesting change, if you would. I like it."

A light blush dusted Canada's face and he looked away, "It'll be back to normal soon."

Gilbert nodded, "Well, I liked how you looked before, too."

Canada smiled slightly, "Obviously. You fell for Matthew and he had the same face as me."

"I don't really care about how you look anymore."said Gilbert, "You are different from Matthew. Matthew couldn't fight like you can, he probably wasn't as quick thinking as you… and I know this is horrible to say, but he wasn't as amazing as you. You're completely different from him and I like it. Just because you share the same face doesn't mean you know the same things, or have had the same experiences."

Canada nodded, "Yeah, I guess… Do you still love him?"

"Of course I still love Matthew." said Gilbert, "But I'm not in love with him anymore. He was and still is important to me, but if I keep living in the past, he would probably kick my ass… What about you? Do you still love Prussia?"

After a small pause Canada nodded, "Yes. I'll always love him. He is the most important person in the world to me." He looked up at Gilbert, "But I've let him go. If I didn't, I'd probably be dead."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. Canada's words were emotionless but his eyes seemed to be hinting that his words had a stronger meaning behind them. Gilbert wanted to question him, but at the same time, he didn't. Who was he to ask Canada to dig up what seemed like painful memories? Instead, he just smiled back at Canada.

"I guess we're the same then? If I didn't let go of Matthew, I would be dead by now… I never got to thank you for that, have I?" He asked.

Canada tilted his head in confusion, "Thank me for what?"

Gilbert grinned, "If it wasn't for you, I'd probably still be a cutter or dead. If you hadn't waltzed into my life, I wouldn't be alive anymore. So for that, I thank you."

Canada sighed and looked away, "You don't need to thank me. I was being selfish. I was only doing that because I couldn't just stand back and watch Prussia die again… I mean, someone who looks like Prussia die again… I mean die. You know what I mean."

Gilbert shrugged, "Well, selfish or not, you saved my life then… And you've been doing it ever since we've been here… Are you my guardian angel or something?"

Canada rolled his eyes, "Right, a guardian angel. I'm nothing like that."

"Well to me you are." said Gilbert as he slung his arm over Canada's shoulder, "My violet-eyed guardian angel… or should I say green-eyed guardian angel?"

Canada pouted, "I don't really have green eyes."

"I don't care." said Gilbert, "But I wish you would let me save you once-in-a-while. You're stabbing holes into my ego."

"I wouldn't have to save you so much if you didn't get into so much trouble." muttered Canada, "You can see the stars pretty clearly tonight."

Gilbert looked up at the sky and smiled. The starts could easily be seen dotting the sky. "Well, without the excessive amounts of pollution made by cars, power stations, trains, trucks, big companies and stuff the stars would be easy to spot."

Canada nodded in agreement, "Yeah… I haven't seen the stars this clearly in a long time. The last time was probably… never mind."

Gilbert looked down at Canada and nudged him gently, "Go on, tell me. I won't judge you."

Canada bit his bottom lip and looked away, "Well… The last time I saw the stars clearly was just after I escaped from Hunter… I had been running for hours until I collapsed. It was night by then and the stars were out. It was a bittersweet moment."

Gilbert nodded and gently squeezed Canada's shoulder, "It must have been awesome to get away from there huh?"

"Yeah…" mumbled Canada. He didn't seem too happy about it.

"What's wrong?"

"I can't tell you." said Canada, "You'll think I'm sick."

Gilbert frowned and shifted around so that he was facing Canada, "Sick? Why would I think that you were sick?"

A dark blush covered Canada's face, "I um… It's embarrassing… I don't think you would understand…"

Gilbert chuckled, "Not understand? Come on, Canada I used to be a depressed, suicidal cutter. It would be so lame if I didn't even think of seeing things from some else's perspective once-in-a-while." He reached out and held Canada's hand, gently squeezing it. "I'll do my best to understand you, so there's no need to be afraid."

Canada looked down and sighed, "Well… You see… I, um… That is to say. I… um… I've um… I didn't really want this to happen. but… I kind of… I mean, after spending so many years with him, I just… I… I've got a small case… and I mean really small, not even that big a deal… But I, um… I've got Stockholm's syndrome…"

Gilbert was shocked, to say the least. The way Canada had talked about Hunter, he thought that he hated his guts. He though that Canada didn't want anything to do with him. How could Canada empathise with him? It just seemed odd to him.

"I thought you hated him." said Gilbert.

"I do." said Canada quickly, "But that doesn't mean I don't understand where he's coming from… I mean, I know he's a horrible person that wouldn't think twice about killing someone… But I can't help but feel sorry for him." He looked away and sighed, "He's as old as the ancient countries and he… He's suffered for so long, he's never going to change."

"Suffered?" questioned Gilbert, "How the hell has he suffered? He's a monster that seems like he's having a blast cutting down everything in his path! Why are you defending him?"

"I'm not defending him!" snapped Canada. "He's a demon that's considered insane by other demons. Do you know the other name that a lot of demons are calling him behind closed doors? La folie de Dieu. It means Insanity God in French! He's off his rocker!"

"I know that!" snapped Gilbert in frustration, "So you felt empathy towards him? Do you love him?"

Canada's eyes went wide with shock, "What?" He cried, "How could you think that?" Tears started to swell in the corners of the Canadian's eyes, "Do you have any idea how many times he's had his hand wrapped around my heart and threatened to rip it out? Do you know how many times he's stabbed me until I passed out because of the pain? There were weeks when I couldn't move without screaming in pain! I don't love him!" By now tears were freely falling down his face.

Gilbert inwardly cursed himself and pulled Canada into a hug, "I'm sorry." He said, "I didn't mean to say that. I should have stayed quite."

Canada buried his face into Gilbert's shoulder and sobbed, "I-It's okay. I-I-I'm fine now."

Gilbert sighed and rubbed small circles into Canada's back, "I'm sorry. Just let it out, Canada." As Canada cried, Gilbert allowed his eyes to wander around the trees. Nothing but shapeless, inky, black blurs, and a pair of bright blue eyes. Gilbert's eyes went wide and he gulped. "Um… Canada, G-Plagues don't all have bright blue eyes do they?"

Canada nodded, "Yeah. Why?"

"I think I found one."

Canada quickly turned around and gulped, "Yes... you did."

The G-Plague stepped out of the night and into full view. Most of it was shrouded in darkness, but they could see that it was as thin as a stick insect, bits of metal were sticking out of its head, its blue eyes were burning in anger and it was carrying a spear.

Before either of them could move it swung the blunt end at them. The first strike hit Canada in the temple, knocking him to the ground unconscious and the second swing landed square o the top of Gilbert's head sending him back into the black abyss.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Well yeah… Please review.


	47. Showers

**Shinigami-cat:** Hey everyone! So lately my dad's been watching all these DVDs about WWII and me being a lazy ass couldn't be bothered to get out of the lounge room. Well that and I wanted to drop in some Hetalia comments here and there, just to piss him off. Anyway, the point is that there are probably going to be some holocaust references in this chapter… I OWN NOTHING!

**Showers**

Gilbert was gently shaken awake by Canada, "Hey, wake up." He whispered, "Come on, Gilbert, open your eyes."

Slowly, Gilbert opened his eyes and groaned in pain.

"Is there a sign on my head that says beat unconscious or something?" he muttered sarcastically.

Canada rolled his eyes, "Well, at least your sense of humour isn't damaged."

Gilbert rolled his eyes and sat up and quickly looked around. They were sitting in some carriage made of water logged wood, black iron bars were fixed to the back of it like a cage, and chains were attached to the walls linking collars around to the necks of the people stuck in the carriage with them.

"Um… Who are these people?"

Canada rolled his eyes, "They are from a French H-farm. We're being sent up to the Bird Cage."

Gilbert looked around at the people with them. There were about twenty people, male and female, ranging from young teens to early twenties. They were wearing grey tattered uniforms and they looked like they were slightly underfed.

Gilbert nodded, "I see…" He leaned in close to Canada. "Um… I know that it's pretty miserable becoming slaves and stuff, but shouldn't they be a little happy? I mean, they aren't being forced to breed."

"About half of them are going to die. The Plagues that live there need food too." He sighed sadly and looked out the back of the carriage. "They'll line us up and choose their food before sending the rest on their way… but that all depends on the food supply up there. If they have enough to eat, then they'll all be slaves. If they don't have enough food, they'll all get eaten."

Gilbert gulped, "Oh… but what about us? What's stopping them from killing us?"

"Absolutely nothing." said Canada grimly, "Becoming a slave is pure luck."

"Oh… shit." This was bad. Very bad. He now understood what Canada meant when he said that they could die within five minutes of stepping into the Bird Cage.

Suddenly, the carriage shuddered to a halt and something heavy landed on the roof. The other people in the carriage looked up at the roof and muttered amongst themselves in a terrified manner. With a loud crunch and a shrill cry, a set of claws punctured the water logged roof. Gilbert gulped and shrunk away from the roof.

Canada looked at Gilbert and chuckled slightly, "Just a dragon."

The sound of the dragon's wings beating filled the air as the carriage was lifted off the ground. The roof arched as it was lifted. Clearly it was not designed for this.

'_It's going to snap isn't it?_' Gilbert thought to himself. '_The damn thing is going to shatter and we'll all fall to our deaths… This is bullshit!_'

Canada sighed and put his hand on Gilbert's shoulder, "It's okay, Gilbert. If Hunter wanted us all to die he would have just let the G-Plagues rip us apart. We'll get there in one piece."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

After about half an hour of uneasy rocking -bringing about a small case of motion sickness for Gilbert- the carriage was set on the ground and the dragon flew away. After a few seconds, four G-Plagues pulled the bars off the door. They had to hunch down to look inside; they were so tall. Their cold blue eyes bore into everyone. Their facial expressions were all set, but everyone could tell what they were saying. Get out.

Slowly and reluctantly, the people from the H-farm started to walk out, pulling their chains along with them. The chains weren't bolted to the carriage, they were in a convenient slip system. Once they were out, they handed their chains to the G-Plagues who gladly took them.

Canada sighed and nudged Gilbert, "Come on, Gilbert. We need to get this over with." Gilbert sighed and quickly jumped out, handing his chain to a G-Plague. Canada did the same. Gilbert took this time to quickly see where they were. Tall black stone walls lined the moss, creating a narrow and rectangular open tunnel-like structure. One end led to the edge of the floating island and the other lead to a large metal door.

Once the G-Plagues were holding all the chains, they yanked them harshly, leading them towards the door. Two of the G-Plagues pushed the doors open and pulled their humans inside.

The room they were taken to was about the size of a class room. The walls were covered in stainless steel, the floor was decorated with black and white tiles, there were two large wooden boxes placed at the sides of the rooms, and there were three doors, one on the left, one on the right, and one straight ahead.

Once everyone was inside, the G-Plagues locked the main door and removed the chains from the humans. The chains were carelessly thrown into the boxes before the G-Plagues took their positions at the four corners of the room, spears and long swords in hand.

"Have any idea what happens now?" whispered Gilbert to Canada.

Canada shrugged, "I guess they get a Plague or a couple of Plagues to come in and choose what they want to eat. I honestly don't know."

Suddenly, the middle door slowly opened and a woman with messy, cropped blond hair walked in. She wore a clay coloured V neck tunic with matching sweat pants, her shoes were covered in dirt and muck, her skin was ghostly white, her eyes were a dull blue, and, most astonishing of all, she had a metal plate bolted into her forehead and jaw. An S-Plague quickly ran out after her.

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. '_What the hell?_'

The S-Plague quickly started to click its teeth together at a rapid pace and the woman picked it up. When the S-Plague was seated comfortably in the woman's arms, it started to chatter again, addressing the group of humans before it. Once it had stopped talking, the woman spoke, but in a harsh robotic voice.

"You have been chosen to come to the Bird Cage. You should feel honoured. Not many are allowed to enter the home of our master Hunter."

Gilbert looked over at Canada. He was starting to shake. Gilbert reached over and gently took Canada's hand in his and squeezed it reassuringly. '_I'm sorry, Canada… I wish I could do more for you._'

The S-Plague quickly clicked its teeth together before the woman spoke again, "You're going to be processed into two categories. Plus and minus. Those with a plus will go through the door on your left and those with a minus will go through the door on your right… To aid in categorization, you are to remove all outer garments and place them in the disposal bins located on either side of the room."

Slowly, the people from the H-farm walked over to the disposal bins and started to remove their clothing. Gilbert looked at Canada who was sharing the same worried expression, but they reluctantly moved over to a bin and removed their clothes.

As they did this Gilbert couldn't help but have a quick look at the people from the H-farm. He was surprised to see that they didn't look malnourished or sickly at all. In fact, they all looked physically healthy. Some of the older women in the group had cesarean scars down their abdomen, a few of them had multiple cesarean scars, giving Gilbert the impression that they were probably forced to carry baby Plagues.

Eventually, everyone in the room was stripped bare and left standing in the middle of the room again. Gilbert did his best to try and not feel embarrassed and nervous about the whole situation. '_This is so awkward… Just keep looking at the floor. Just keep looking at the floor. Don't look up. Just keep looking at the floor…_'

"This is humiliating…" muttered Canada.

"I know." agreed Gilbert. His eyes still fixed to the ground.

Suddenly, the woman grabbed Gilbert's arm making him look up at her. When he looked at her closely, he could see that her eyes were too shiny and perfect. They were made of glass. Before he could say anything, she drew a line on his hand. "Minus." Her electronic voice crackled. "Go through the door on the right."

Gilbert gulped and slowly walked over to where other people were standing with minus symbols drawn on their hands. He momentarily looked up to see where Canada was and he felt his stomach turn. Canada was on the other side of the room. They weren't in the same line. Canada had a look of fear on his face. One of them was going to die.

Gilbert gulped but tried to put on a brave face. He had a feeling it wasn't that convincing. '_Fuck! One of us is screwed! But the question is which one? Crap this sucks!_'

The woman with the S-Plague started to walk back out of the room when the S-Plague started to chatter rapidly and click its teeth. This made the woman stop. She slowly turned to the minus line and looked along it, "Red eyes boy, blonde girl, and boy with freckles, move to the plus line. There are too many in the minus line… Can't get too greedy."

Cautiously, Gilbert, along with the two other people, moved across the room to the plus line. Canada smiled slightly at this and so did Gilbert. Whatever would happen to them, they would face it together.

As soon as everyone was lined up, the S-Plague quickly looked at the numbers in the lines and made an odd clicking noise. The woman nodded, "Proceed with all necessary preparation methods." She then turned and left the room, closing the heavy wooden door behind her with a thunk. When she was gone, two G-Plagues opened up the doors and ushered people inside.

The room that the plus group was ushered into was about the same size and design as the last room, except black lines were spray painted on the ground, creating boxes around red X's. In the centre of each X was a small drain. Everyone kind of looked at each other, unsure of what to do.

A G-Plague walked into the room. Its slim figure towered over the humans. It glared at them, and then pointed to an X with its spear. Gilbert gulped for the millionth time that day. '_Shit, this is bad! What's going to happen? Are we going to die? Shit we are aren't we? I wish I still had my pants…_'

Slowly people started to walk over to the X's and stand over them. Gilbert stood over an X that was next to Canada. The Canadian was starting to tremble in fear.

"Are you okay, Birdie?" whispered Gilbert.

Canada shook his head, "No… What if we die? What if they brought us in here to get gassed or something?"

"They probably would have killed us by now." muttered Gilbert to himself. Suddenly, iron walls started to fall down from the roof along the black lines. Within a few short seconds Gilbert was completely boxed in.

"Shit!" He cried. He started to hit the side of the metal box, "Birdie! Can you hear me?"

He got no response. '_Shit! Shit! Shit! What's going on? What the hell are they doing?_' Gilbert soon received his answer when a jet of freezing cold water rained down from the ceiling. It was soon followed by a water fall of hot water and another blast of freezing water. By the time the water had finished bucketing down from the ceiling, Gilbert was on his knees. The water pressure had been so intense it had knocked him to the ground and forced the air out of his lungs.

"What the hell was that?" He gasped. He slowly pulled himself to his feet, shivering and completely soaked to the bone when a blast of hot air knocked him back down. After thirty seconds or so the hot air stopped blowing and the walls were pulled back up into the roof.

As Gilbert pulled himself into a sitting position he was relieved to find that he wasn't the only one that fell down during that weird shower. He looked over at Canada who was holding the broken pieces of his glasses in his hands and scowling at them. "Fantastic… Now I'm blind."

"Really?"

Canada sighed, "No, but now I can't read… Not that it really matters anyway."

A G-Plague opened up the door that they had walked through and glared, signalling that it wanted everyone to go back to the first room. Waiting for them in the first room was the woman with the S-Plague. In front of her were two boxes filled with clothes and shoes.

The S-Plague started to chatter again and the woman spoke in her robotic voice, "You have been selected to serve in the house of our master… Take a uniform and some shoes… They will be all you own from now on…"

Everyone quickly grabbed a uniform and pulled it on. Surprisingly, the material was light but very warm. It was interesting, to say the least. He kind of liked it. He looked over at Canada who was still holding his broken glasses, "Think you'll be able to fix it?"

"Maybe…" muttered Canada, "If I had fire or some sticky tape…"

Gilbert nodded and looked over at the door on the right. He felt sick, realizing that on the other side were the people that were going to get used for food. No, they are food now. Just thinking about how close he was to sharing their fate made him shudder. '_Crap… I can't believe it… How can they just take people and kill them for no reason? I don't understand them…_'

The woman started to talk again, "You are all to follow me to your sleeping quarters located at the other side of the master's house… Stay close and don't walk off…"

Canada instinctively moved closer to Gilbert as the crowd started to follow the woman and the S-Plague. They walked down a long, narrow hallway to a large open court yard, decorated with grotesque animal statues, wild, untameable grass, and bushes covered in thorns. White stone paths intersected the court yard grounds and large black stone walls boxed off the court yard, towering over it, and if you looked closely, you could see several small windows in those walls. A few other people dressed in those clay coloured uniforms were walking around, but they didn't matter.

They walked along a path until they turned down a hall. This place had a very different feel to where Gilbert had stayed with Canada and all the other countries back at ground level. Back there, it had a kind of friendly, home-like atmosphere, but here everything just felt cold and dead. Nothing good seemed to be able to come from this place.

As their group turned a corner, Canada grabbed Gilbert's arm and started to shiver. "What's wrong, Birdie?"

"What an honour!" said the woman with the computerized voice, "It is a rare treat to see our lord and master about the castle. All hail Hunter!"

Gilbert's eyes went wide as he looked over at the man that they were talking about. Hunter was pretty much the same as when Gilbert saw him on the battle field except he was wearing a black military uniform, he had long platinum blond, possibly white hair tied back in a ponytail at the base of his neck and he was wearing a black and red mask over his eyes. When the woman had said _'Hail Hunter'_ he looked over at the people and walked over to them. The woman bowed to him.

"Oh, wonderful and powerful master, these are the newest slaves, ready to do your bidding." She said.

Hunter looked over at them and shrugged, "Whatever. It's not like I care. They're just here to fix up the place and stuff." He was about to walk off when his eyes fell on Gilbert. "You!" He cried in shock, "You're still alive?"

Gilbert glared at him, "You don't say?"

Hunter chuckled, "I'd bite my tongue if I were you, kid. Canada's not here to save you. If you piss me off, I won't hesitate to kill you."

Gilbert rolled his eyes, "Whatever. Stay out of my way and we won't have that problem." He immediately regrated what he said.

Hunter growled and grabbed Gilbert by the front of his shirt and lifted him into the air, "You have a big mouth kid." He hissed, "Don't make me stitch it shut." He dropped Gilbert and walked away from the group, "Hope you all enjoy your stay here… It's for a limited time only."

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat:** Hope you liked that. Please review!


	48. Pipsqueak

**Shinigami-cat:** It's so freaking cold here… Lucky northern hemisphere bastards… anyway I'm changing the rating back up to M. If this gets taken down I'll start posting on deviantart… I OWN NOTHING!

**Pipsqueak**

After the run in with Hunter, everyone was taken to a building over the other side of the island. It was a long three story house made from grey rocks, different from the rest of the castle. Before they went inside, the woman with the electronic voice turned around, "Pair up with someone. There's limited space."

After everyone had paired off, the woman showed them to the available rooms. Gilbert and Canada were given a room that was right at the end of a long corridor. It was a small, two meter by two meter room. There was a mat pushed up against the back wall that was probably only big enough for one person.

They quickly went inside and closed the door. They were glad to be away from that group of freaks and somewhere relatively safe. Gilbert closed the door and sat on the mat next to Canada, he was still holding the remains of his glasses.

"We can fix them." said Gilbert reassuringly, "Don't worry about it."

Canada shrugged, "I don't really mind… I mean, I won't be able to read, but I can still see."

"Pass them here." Gilbert took the broken pieces out of Canada's hands. The glass was fine, just the metal frame was broken in two places, "I'm sure we can find something to fix them."

Canada sighed and pulled his knees up to his chin, "You shouldn't have said that to Hunter… He'll be watching you now."

Gilbert shrugged, "Think of it as misdirection. While he's keeping an eye on me you can stab him with a knife. We win."

Canada chuckled, "If only it was that simple."

Gilbert sighed and pulled Canada into a hug, "Hey, it's not the end of the world. Just cheer up a little, okay?"

"Aw, aren't you two just a cute little couple." said a cheerful feminine voice. Gilbert and Canada looked to the door which was now open. There was a girl wearing a uniform like them. She had short chocolate brown hair done up in a side-tail, muddy green eyes, freckles dotted the bridge of her nose, and a cheeky grin was spread across her face.

"I thought I closed that door…" muttered Gilbert.

"Hey! So you two are my new neighbors? Are you H-farm robots or were you picked up?"

"We were picked up." answered Gilbert.

If it was at all possible the girls grin got even wider, "Awesome! I've been waiting for more normal people to turn up! I'm Pip, by the way. Short for Pipsqueak. What about you two?"

"I'm Gilbert." said he, "And this guy over here is, um…" He had no idea what to call Canada. He couldn't call him by his name because Hunter would find out.

"My name's Matthew." said Canada without hesitation. "It's nice to meet you Pip."

Gilbert gave Canada a slightly shocked and questioning look. He didn't understand why Canada was using Matthew's name. Canada seemed to notice Gilbert confusion and gave him a look that said he would explain later.

Pip grinned, "Matthew and Gilbert… I shall call you Matt and Gilly!"

"Gilly?" Questioned Gilbert, "That sounds so girly."

Pip poked put her tongue, "Whatever. What's with the broken glasses? Don't tell me those high powered showers broke them?"

Canada nodded, "Yeah… I don't suppose you know where I could fix them?"

Pip's eyes lit up, "Of course I do! Come on, I'll take you two to see Hank." She walked in and pulled them both to their feet.

"Hold on a second here!" snapped Gilbert, "What's with your attitude? Why are you so damn happy?"

Pip shrugged, "Well, it's been a long time since anyone with a will of their own showed up. There are about five other people that aren't from H-farms around here, but with you two that number is now eight… no, that guy got eaten… make that seven."

"Eaten?" asked Gilbert in shock.

Pip nodded, "Well, yeah… You didn't think that just because you got picked to be slaves that you wouldn't get eaten, did you? I swear, more people get eaten here than any other place on earth!" She grabbed their hands again and started to pull them outside, "And if we don't get eaten we'll get turned into those freaky metal heads! Like that chick that shows the new slaves around."

"So are they like robots?" asked Canada.

Pip nodded vigorously, "Yep! They are just like meat suits. Always following orders and never doing anything else. They are almost as bad as those H-farm cattle."

They started to walk back to the castle -well, Canada and Gilbert walked while Pip skipped. Gilbert sighed, keeping his eyes on the ground. '_This is just weird… She's way too happy about being here. There has to be some kind of catch. She's probably something that… um… I don't know… But I still don't like her. The way she talks about those people from the H-farms… She's acting like they aren't even human._'

"You don't care for those in the H-farms do you?" asked Canada.

Pip shrugged, "Well, not really. I mean, I feel sorry for them and stuff… and when I first came here about a year ago, I tried to make friends with them, but it's like talking to a brick wall. They have no personality at all." She walked into the court yard and randomly walked around the statues there. "They're like sixth… eighth generation cattle and livestock. They don't know how to be human anymore. I generally try to avoid them."

The rest of the trip to see Hank was relatively quiet, but the silence was filled with Pip and her random humming. Gilbert had concluded that she wasn't right in the head.

Pip led them down to a room near the west side of the castle. As they walked there, Gilbert noticed a slight rise in temperature. It wasn't too extreme, just noticeable, really.

After a while, they came across a metal door which Pip quickly opened and skipped inside. The room had a large boiler sitting in the corner, slabs of meat hung on metal hooks attached to the roof, and several mats were placed in front of the boiler.

"Hey, Hank, I found some travellers with the H-farm people! Come out and meet them!" called Pip. There was no reply. Pip pouted and sat cross legged on the mats. "I guess he's taking some meat to the kitchens… Let's stay here until he gets back."

Canada sighed and sat down next to her, "Shouldn't you be doing something? I mean, you are a slave after all."

Pip shrugged, "Well, we don't really do anything unless the S-Plagues tell us to do something. I haven't done anything for months now… But they can't kill me. I'm the only one who can climb up really high without a harness. Everyone with special skills lives the longest."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow, "Really?"

"Yep." said Pip, "If you have a special skill that the Plagues like, they'll let you live. Most people die after six months, but they are usually the people from the H-farms because they don't know how to do stuff properly… Can either of you garden?"

"Why?" asked Canada.

Pip smiled sweetly, "Because the last one did something wrong and now he's dead."

"Yeah… anyway what the hell kind of meat is this?" Asked Gilbert as he pointed to one of the chunks hanging off the ceiling.

"Not sure." said Pip, "But I know it isn't human, because we can get diseases from eating other humans. The S-Plagues want us at our fittest when they take us away… I think it might be Grabber or cow."

"Probably cow." muttered Canada, "Um… where are we, anyway?"

"Hank's room." said Pip, "It's also where the non H-farm people hang out… and a storage room. Hank's good at preserving meat, so the S-Plagues let him do it. They don't mind that he lives here. As far as they see it, the less of us hanging around, the better… or is it 'the more they see, the better'? I can never remember which is which." She sighed and randomly fell to her side, pouting slightly. Probably thinking over what she had just said.

Gilbert sighed and sat on the floor. He wasn't sure why they bothered to follow Pip. She was obviously not right in the head, probably had ADHD or something similar.

Suddenly, the door opened and tall man walked in. He had the build like a tank, had short red hair and black soot covered his clothes and face, "Hey, Pip, who are these people?" He asked, his voice hinting slightly towards an Irish accent.

Pip sat up and grinned, "Hey, Hank! These two are Gilly and Matt."

Hank nodded and looked at Gilbert and Canada, "She gave you nicknames, didn't she?"

"Yeah." said Canada, "I'm Matthew and that's Gilbert."

Hank nodded, "I see. Picked up a few minutes ago, were ya? Now, why has Pip brought you two here? She usually brings people over later at night. That's usually when everyone meets up."

"Matt's glasses got busted in the shower." sang Pip, "He needs them fixed so he can see."

"I see…" said Hank, "Those showers are pretty damn powerful." He held his hand out to Canada, who reluctantly gave him his broken glasses. He quickly looked over them and frowned. "These are pretty damn old… I'll fix them up tomorrow okay?"

"Thanks." muttered Canada.

"So how long have you been here Hank?" asked Gilbert.

Hank shrugged, "About as long as Pipsqueak. Give or take a few days. Those G-Plagues grabbed me when I was killing a Grabber."

"I hate those things." grumbled Gilbert.

"But they make wonderful soup!" chimed Pip.

Hank grinned and sighed, "Yeah… Too bad they don't just fork over Grabbers." He walked over to the mats and sat down, "Grabbers might be the lowest of the low when it comes to Plagues, but even they get more rights than humans. Funny how life works, huh? One day you're top dog, next you're cleaning up the crap of those fucking assholes."

"It's not so bad." sang Pip, "They leave us alone most of the time."

"Unless they want to eat you." said Canada. He stood up and walked towards the door. "Thank you for helping me, Hank, and I hope we see you and Pipsqueak around. Gilbert and I are going to head back to our room now…"

Pip grinned and waved, "Later, Matt. Farewell, Gilly."

"You seriously need to stop giving people weird nicknames." muttered Hank.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

When they got back to their room, Canada sat in a far corner of the room and sighed sadly. Gilbert frowned and sat next to him. He put his hand on his shoulder, "What's up, Canada?"

"Just thinking…" he muttered sadly, "I'm sorry I used Matthew's name… But, um, just so you know, that's my human name."

Gilbert was shocked, but he honestly wasn't surprised anymore, "That's fine. Besides, it's pretty obvious what would happen if you used your country name."

Canada smiled slightly, "Yeah… If he found me this early on, I don't know what I'd do."

"I wouldn't let that happen to you." said Gilbert sternly, "I'll protect you from him. I won't let him hurt you."

Canada suddenly broke down, sobbing, crying, and trembling, "Stop saying that!" He cried, "You… you can't say that! Hunter will… He'll kill you if try to… He'll just kill you!"

Gilbert wrapped his arms around Canada's frame and pulled him close, "Please don't cry, Canada… I won't let Hunter kill you. I don't care if I get hurt or die, as long as I know you'll be safe because of it."

Canada stopped trembling, but continued to cry, "Don't die because of me." he sobbed, "I don't want anyone to die because of me… I'm not worth it. I just want this all to end…"

"It will soon." whispered Gilbert, "Hunter will die and your world can start to rebuild itself."

Canada sniffled a little, his face buried into Gilbert's shirt, "I wish it were that simple…" He muttered.

Gilbert raised a brow, "What do you mean?" He looked down at Canada, surprised to see that the poor boy had cried himself to sleep.

A frown fixed itself on Gilbert's face. '_What aren't you telling me, Canada?_'

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat:** Hey! I'm thinking of doing a chapter from Hunter's point of view in a few chapters time. Tell me what you think. Please review!


	49. Gardeners

**Shinigami-cat: **Hey people! At the last minute my teachers decided to give me a lot of assignments, so the next few chapters might take a little longer to get out… I OWN NOTHING!

**Gardeners**

After a few days Canada and Gilbert had settled into a routine; in the morning they would get woken up by Pip and follow her to get food. From then until lunch they would wander around together, doing their best to avoid any S-Plagues, G-Plagues or Hunter if he ever showed up. After lunch it was pretty much the same and at night they would either hang out with Pip and Hank or go back to their room and try and come up with plans about how they would kill Hunter.

They also met the other three people that were picked up. Raven; a tall, thin woman with black hair and chocolate eyes, she was taken by a Grabber in India. Her skill was cooking. Zero; a teen with light brown hair and blazing blue eyes, he was picked up by a G-Plague in New Zealand. His skill was plumbing. Finally there was Scrap; he was similar to Hank in build except his hair was dark brown and he had copper coloured eyes, he was taken by a Grabber in America. His skill was metal works.

At the moment it was night and they had all congregated in Hank's room to relax. Zero was sitting in front of Raven while she trimmed his hair with a knife she took from the kitchen. "Careful with that Raven." Said Zero. "Don't want to lose an ear."

Raven rolled her eyes. "If I wanted to take off your ear I would have done it long ago, you little punk. Now hold still or I'll stab you."

"She'll do it!" Said Scrap. "She's crazy enough!" Raven poked out her tongue and went back to cutting Zero's hair.

Gilbert smiled slightly. Everyone here, even though they were all brought together by this horrible tragedy, it was amazing how they acted like a family. It made everything seem a little better than it really was.

Canada sighed and cleaned some dirt off his glasses. "Anything interesting happen today?"

"Like what?" Asked Pip as she sat next to Canada, her eyes wide and curious.

Canada shrugged. "I don't know… Just stuff…"

"Hunter mutilated an S-Plague today." Said Zero. "I think he was bitching about his garden or something… I think he's pissed about it becoming over grown or something."

"About time he did something about the court yard." Muttered Gilbert. "I swear there's something living in that long grass."

Scrap chuckled. "Not the court yard. Hunter doesn't give a shit about that place. We're talking about his own private garden." He scratched his chin, scraping off some of the thick soot that caked his face. "I guess even crazy psychos need a place to relax after a hard day's insanity."

Pip sighed contently. "I'd love to see it… It's supposed to be huge and has three smaller gardens inside it! One's all tropical and stuff, the other one's like forest filled with pine trees and junk and the last one is like a proper garden filled with flowers and fruit trees."

"How do you know that?" Asked Gilbert. That garden Pip described sounded amazing, but there was no way Hunter would have something like that. Besides he would need a place much larger than his floating island to have it.

"The last gardener." Said Pip. "He was my roommate before he got killed." For emphasis she dragged her finger across her neck and pulled a face.

"Why was he killed?" Asked Canada curiously. "If Hunter likes his garden so much why would he let his only Gardner die?"

Pip grinned mischievously. "I think it was because he was going crazy. He said he saw someone in there… and everyone knows that Hunter never lets Plagues go in there at all for any reason. Only Hunter and the gardeners are allowed in there… And since he was the only gardener in there, who was that other guy?"

Zero smirked. "Perhaps it's a special Plague."

Scrap raised an eyebrow. "A special Plague?"

Zero grinned. "Yeah… His special Plague. His lover! Too evil to go out and get one so he made one." Raven nicked Zero's ear with the knife. "Ouch! What the hell Raven? I was just saying!"

"Well your comment is not appreciated." She hissed. She hid the knife back up her sleeve and pushed Zero away. "Hunter isn't someone who has lovers. He's more like a reptile that needs something warm under its cold belly. It's disgusting."

Gilbert glanced over at Canada. He had his eyes fixed on the floor. It was obvious that this conversation was making him uncomfortable. "So Hunter goes in there often?" Murmured Canada.

"He practically lives in there." Said Hank.

"I see…" Muttered Canada. Gilbert could tell a plan was starting to formulate inside the Canadian's head.

"Can either of you garden?" Asked Pip.

"A little." Said Gilbert. "Why?"

"If Hunter's pissed that his garden isn't being taken care of the S-Plagues are going to look for a new gardener." She said, like it was the most obvious answer in the world.

Canada nodded. "We can garden… I guess that'll be our skill then."

"Then we wish you the best of luck." Said Scrap. "You'll need it. Gardeners get killed much faster than H-farm people. They last about four to five months."

Gilbert smiled. "That's fine. Not like we're going to live forever anyway."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

After that the conversation died down and everyone retired back to their rooms. When Gilbert and Canada were alone Canada grinned. "Well now we know where we can kill him, and they'll have to give us gardening tools so we'll have weapons. Hunter's dead for sure!"

Gilbert beamed. "Yep! One swift stab to the heart or wack with a shovel and it's all over! This nightmare is over! Everything can go back to normal!"

Canada nodded enthusiastically. "Hunter's going to die… He's going to die…" Just as quickly as his enthusiasm came it went. "Let's get some sleep okay?"

Gilbert frowned but agreed. They didn't have a blanket so they had to rely on each other to keep warm. Canada, being the lighter of the two pretty much slept on top Gilbert. Gilbert didn't mind this though. It was a very efficient way to keep warm.

Gilbert sighed and wrapped his arms around Canada's torso. "You don't really seem that happy about the plan."

"I'm just worried." Muttered Canada, his head resting on Gilbert's chest. "If it all goes wrong…"

"Don't think about it." Said Gilbert. "We'll get him in the end. He'll die. I'll make sure of it."

"Thank you." Muttered Canada. "When all this is over I'll get you back home."

Gilbert smiled and ran his fingers through Canada's hair. "I don't care if I never go home. As long as I'm with you I'm happy." Canada muttered something and took off his glasses, putting them on the floor before closing his eyes and falling into an uneasy sleep.

Gilbert sighed and ran his fingers through Matthew's hair, thinking about the garden Pip described. '_That place… It sounds weird… Wonder if that guy really went crazy or if he really saw someone… But I guess Zero's right. It would probably be a lover or something like that…_'

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Once again they were woken up early again by Pip running into their room and jumping on top of them. She was probably the most efficient alarm clock either of them would ever have. Reluctantly they got up and started their routine all over again.

They walked over to the kitchen where Raven and a few H-farm people were working. The kitchen was enormous; seven industrial stoves, eight ovens, one large fire place where things could get barbequed and a work bench as long as a small tennis court was placed done the middle.

As soon as Raven spotted them she grinned and waved them over. "Hey guys! Nothing too fancy like gruel today, instead you're going to have to stomach burnt bread and slightly off butter." She tossed three blackish rolls at them.

Gilbert was able to catch two and Pip caught one. Pip took a bite and skipped over to Raven. "So… what are you going to make for lunch?"

"Rice stuff mixed with flour stuff with a broth made using the left over cow and grabber bones." Said Raven with a sigh. "I wish we had something to make curry…"

Pip grinned. "Curry, curry, curry, curry… What's curry?"

"A very spicy dish." Said Raven. "It's an acquired taste really."

Pip shrugged. "Okay… I'm going to go play in the court yard!" She stuffed the bread in her mouth and ran out of the kitchen, humming happily.

Raven chuckled and grabbed a bread roll. "She's so cute."

"She has a few screws loose." Said Gilbert as he gave Canada one of the rolls he caught. "So how's it hanging?"

Raven shrugged and took a bite out of the bread. "It's pretty good… Any S-Plagues recruit you two for gardening yet?"

Canada shook his head and nibbled on the bread. "Not yet. But I'm guessing any time now… Maybe when Hunter starts to randomly kill things again they start looking."

Raven shrugged. "Perhaps… Oh boy, more metal heads…" She put on a fake smile at the three metal heads, who walked in with their S-Plagues sitting on their shoulders. "What will it be today? Bread? Meat? Poison?"

The S-Plagues started to chatter quickly and the metal heads spoke in unison, in their cold metallic voices. "Very funny Raven… Give us what we need… to keep these meat suits alive…"

Raven sighed and handed them bread rolls. "I hope you all choke and die horribly."

The metal heads grabbed the bread rolls and started to quickly munch on them. While they were eating their S-Plagues started to chat to each other in their language of clicks and strange whistles.

Canada sighed and tugged on Gilbert's sleeve. "Come on… Let's go… Not like we can find any seeds to plant or anything…"

Suddenly the S-Plagues stopped talking and looked over at Gilbert and Canada. One of them started to chatter than their metal head spoke. "You two can garden?"

"Yes." Said Canada. The confidence in his voice didn't waver.

"Yep." Agreed Gilbert. "There's nothing that Mattie and I can't grow."

The S-Plagues quickly chatted amongst themselves before nodding quickly. "You two will come with us now." Gilbert and Canada nodded and followed the S-Plagues with their metal heads out of the room.

"Kill those two and I'll poison your next meal!" Shouted Raven.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

They were lead down a flight of steps, deep into the bowls of the island. The further they walked the more nervous Canada became. He started to cling to Gilbert's arm and mutter to himself under his breath, like he knew where they were going, and he was terrified.

Gilbert bit his lip. '_Shit… Maybe this was a bad idea…_'

After what seemed like hours they eventually came to a room. Well it wasn't exactly a room. It was more like a pit with a staircase wrapped around the edge of it. At the bottom was a large dome the size of a basketball court. When they eventually got to the bottom the S-Plagues started chatting again.

"You two will be the new gardeners…" Cracked one of the metal heads. "You will be allowed access to Hunter's private garden… Everything that you see in there is confidential and should not be repeated to anyone…"

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "It's just a garden. What's he hiding in there? Gold? Not that gold would do us much good anyway."

"Shut up." Hissed Canada. "Do you want to get killed?"

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Right, because those morons are going to kill the only two humans that know how to garden. I bet Hunter would just love that. I thought the S-Plagues were meant to be the smart ones. Turns out they're just as dumb B-Plagues."

"We only need one gardener…" The three of them said in unison. "Think about that before you speak next time…"

Gilbert sighed. "These things can't take a joke can they?"

Canada rolled his eyes and stamped on Gilbert's foot. "Shut up!"

"Fine!" Hissed Gilbert as he hopped a little.

The S-Plagues seemed to be amused by this small display and laughed. Well, one could only assume that they were laughing, they were making odd, high pitched clicking noises. Once they stopped laughing one of the metal heads spoke. "Stupid people… Report back here tomorrow and you'll start working…"

Suddenly a door opened up in the side of the dome and Hunter walked out. He was covered in mud and vines. "Why are there vines everywhere?" He growled. "I can't fucking see where I'm going and when I do I trip over! When the hell am I going to get new gardeners?"

"We have them right here sir." Said one of the metal heads.

Hunter raised an eyebrow and looked over at Gilbert and Canada. He chuckled and walked over to them. "So it's you again… Mess up in anyway in there and I'll slit your throat."

"Noted." Muttered Gilbert.

Hunter nodded and looked at Canada. Said Canadian was starting to tremble. "Have we met before kid?" Asked Hunter. "I'm pretty sure I've seen you before somewhere…"

Gilbert growled and stepped in front of Canada. "His name is Matthew. He was with me when you threatened me… He's not from a H-farm like those other freaks."

Hunter smirked and grabbed Gilbert's chin. "You like talking don't you? I'm pretty sure it would be hard to talk if I ripped out your lower jaw right now."

"Please don't!" Cried Canada. "Gilbert's sorry! He won't talk to you like that again! Please don't kill him!"

Hunter chuckled and let Gilbert go. "How cute. You got yourself a boyfriend. Now you can pretend you have something to live for, like the pathetic worms you are…" He chuckled and walked up the steps. "Just a bit of advice, try not to get eaten by the Venus flytraps in there… I've lost too many gardeners that way…"

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Man that took way too long to write… coming up next is Hunter's chapter!


	50. Secret Treasure

**Shinigami-cat:** As promised here is Hunter's chapter. Also when Hunter says Matthew he means Canada, because with Canada's disguise he doesn't recognise him. Don't forget about the cover competition I'm having. The details are on my Deviantart account… I OWN NOTHING!

**Secret Treasure**

Screams. Those horrible, horrible screams filled his head as the smoke and fire surrounded him. Yet he kept walking through it all. Every now and then he would see a human figure and try to reach out to them, but as soon as he raised his hand they would fall and disappear into the smoky haze.

He was confused, but he didn't know why. He knew where he was, he knew what was happening, but he couldn't bring himself to believe it. "Dead…" He whispered. "Everyone's dead… and it's all because of me… No one's going to survive… I want to see him… I need to see him again… Where are you, Canada?"

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Hunter's eyes snapped open, his heart pounding in his chest. Once his heart had settled, he sat in his bed, furs lazily hung off his slim frame and his long platinum blond hair hung in his eyes. He sighed and lightly brushed it out of his eyes, "I really should get it cut soon…" He muttered to himself, "Fuck it. It'll just get long again."

He shrugged it off and tied it back with a small black hair elastic that he had around his wrist, effectively giving himself a short, low pony tail. He sighed and quickly hopped up, keeping one hand on the soft fur bed sheet and walked over to his mirror.

He quickly took himself in, like he did every day. He could clearly see some of the veins through the skin on his arms, chest, neck, and legs. It made him feel old, but he would laugh it off, remembering he was really old. Older than the ancients, even older than humanity itself. Taking that into account, he assumed he looked good for someone of his age.

But then he would look at his face and scowl deeply. He had a deep scar over the left side of his face, cutting through his eye. As a consequence, he was blind in that eye. It had clouded over in that horrid milky film turning his eye colour pink while the other was blood red, the standard colour for demons.

He ran his fingers over the scar in the mirrors reflection and sighed, remembering how he had gotten it. "Such a silly little bird he was… Used his claws to blind me in one eye, so I guess I'll break his arms." He chuckled at the thought. "Stupid bird. Makes pretty music when it cries out though. Its screams of pain are music to my ears, his cries for mercy are like melodies, and his sobs are harmonies."

He laughed and dug his nails into the glass and quickly spun in a circle, ripping out chunks of glass and slicing into his hand, but he felt no pain. He hardly ever did. Not that it mattered anyway. He simply picked the bits of glass out with his teeth and licked the blood away. The wounds on his hand healing almost instantly.

With a laugh he let the fur sheet drop to the floor as he quickly dashed over to his walk-in wardrobe. He practically skipped inside and looked around for what to wear. After conquering a few countries, he had become quite enthralled by their bloody histories and as a result, he appropriated most of his casual clothes to look like military uniforms. The uniform he liked the most was the WWII Nazi uniform.

He got rid of the swastika and dyed it a darker black. He loved the colour black. Blood stains hardly showed up on black. Evil deeds were committed in the dark of night. No one was stupid enough to do evil in the day. The darkness was his shield, his cover, his protector.

He quickly pulled on a uniform, not caring what it was. Anything went well with his combat boots. When he was done he picked up a black eye mask and quickly put it on. In all honesty, Hunter was a bit of a narcissist. He knew that fact well and stomped on the faces of all those who talked ill of him for his looks. He was fine with them calling him a freak, monster and anything else, but only for his actions.

With his eye mask he could hide the fact he was blind and look mysterious, which he liked. As far as he knew, the only one to see his true face was Canada. He both liked and hated that fact. It made him feel weak. He hated that feeling. It made him want to catch him and pluck out his eyes.

He sighed and walked back over to his mirror. He did another quick spin. "Call me vain if you must…" He said to no one. "But when I step on someone's face, I want to look sexy."

Once he was done, he turned and walked out of his room and down the dark halls, allowing himself to remember his dream. '_He's close… I can feel it. I can almost taste him… I want him back. I want him back now! He's mine. Mine. Mine. Mine…_' He chuckled to himself '_I sound like a brat who's lost its toy. I guess he was my toy… It's funny how I have the whole world on a string and I still want him._'

As he aimlessly wandered around the halls he frowned. He could hear the incessant chatter of every single S-Plague and G-Plague that lived in this place. It was a wonder he didn't lose his mind over it. But then again he had already lost his mind. In all honesty, he wasn't sure if he ever had it in the first place.

Eventually, he came to the kitchen and sighed. He didn't like eating, but if he didn't he would die. He opened the door and walked inside. An Indian woman gulped. "Oh… Hunter… Um… I don't really have much prepared… Just some bread and dried meat for everyone else… If you would like to wait, I could make something for you."

Hunter shrugged. "I'm in a hurry. Whatever you have made now I'll eat."

She nodded and quickly gave him a large chunk of dried meat. "I hope it's to your liking, sir."

Hunter shrugged and took a bite out of it. He couldn't taste anything, but he didn't care. He chewed it into a thick paste and swallowed it, letting it sink to his stomach where it would rot. He repeated this motion until he was done and left the kitchen.

He wasn't sure of the time, nor did he really care, he just walked around to keep himself occupied. He thought back to the previous day's events with Gilbert. There was just something he couldn't stand about that little albino brat. Maybe it was because he had spent time with Canada when he knew Canada was rightfully his. Canada was the country he was born in. Canada was his and his alone. He was not going to let a brat from some other world just waltz in and take his prize.

A dark smirk played across his lips. "But what does that matter now? He's not with Canada anymore. He's here and Canada's far away… I will get him back soon. He won't leave me alone. Canada's mine and no one else's." He chuckled to himself. "I sounded a little patriotic then… How odd…"

He opened up a door and walked down the steps. It was dark and damp, but he didn't care. He wanted to see how some of his children were going. His children were the Plagues he had made, although he considered them dirt most of the time. He wanted to see how the babies were growing. He had heard that they were failures. Unable to fully develop into stable creatures and died after a few weeks due to disease and the fact that they had the durability of a water balloon in a needle factory.

After about ten minutes of walking down the steps, he came to another door and opened it up. Behind it was a hallway similar to something someone would see in a futuristic hospital. This was the core of the island. It was nothing more than a high-tech testing facility for his S-Plagues.

Here they would test growth hormones that they would inject into humans that would force the rabid growth of fat, muscle, and skin cells. The rapid growth would cause the body to go into shock, killing them and making their bodies swell up to ten times their size after death.

They would also grow humans to make into metal heads. Most of which is unsuccessful, which was why they started to rip apart and change their DNA to make them slower and weak willed. If that didn't work, they would open up their heads and pull things apart, fixing metal plates into them instead. This was always more successful then screwing with their DNA.

Upgrading themselves was also big on the agenda. When a Plague reached it's 'use by' date, they would carve it up and perform experiments on it to see if they could evolve further than they already have. Hunter saw this as a waste of time, because in his eyes his Plagues were already at the best that they could be.

He sighed and walked into the research centre for the new baby Plagues. There were hundreds of stations lined up along the walls where an S-Plague was poking, prodding, and injecting stuff into the gelatinous babies.

He couldn't say he was proud of what his creatures were doing, but he couldn't say he was disappointed either. '_Fuck… I don't understand this at all… I wanted this, right? I wanted all this, right? I'm just not sure anymore…_' He growled and scratched his head. '_No, I want this. This needs to happen. I can't leave any room for doubt in my mind! Nothing I do is wrong. It all has a purpose._'

He sighed and walked over to a station close to him. The S-Plague there was injecting serum into the baby Plagues' eyes. "What's the point of that?" He asked.

The S-Plague jumped and turned around. "Hail Hunter!" It quickly said.

Hunter rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes, yes… Hail Hunter and all that jazz. What are you doing to that?"

The S-Plague clicked its teeth together. "I'm trying to enhance its eye sight. Hopefully if we can get them to mature, they will have the sight of a hawk. As a side-affect, their eye colour changes. But that's a small price to pay for the sight that they will have."

Hunter frowned and looked at the baby Plague at the S-Plagues' work bench. A developing skeleton could be seen through the flesh and small organs were pumping a dark purplish-red liquid through its veins. Over all, it wasn't that interesting. It reminded Hunter of a half developed fetus. The only thing that really caught his attention was the blob's large lavender eyes. Proportionally speaking, they were too large for it and they seemed too opaque in colour.

He reached out and poked it. "Weird little thing." He muttered.

The Plague looked up at him and grabbed his finger. "Daddy." It gurgled.

Hunter's eyes went wide with shock. He did not expect that at all. Normally if a younger Plague referred to him as that he would just slap them and tell them to call him _master_ or _lord_, but there was something different about this one. There was something he couldn't explain. He didn't like it. He didn't like it at all.

He picked up the blob and glared at it. It was almost like jelly in his hand, but with a thin membrane that encased it. Then it hit him. He knew why he didn't like it. The reason why he hated it so much. "What… have you done… to its eyes?" He hissed at the S-Plague. His grip slowly tightening on the blob. "What have you done to its eyes?" His voice slowly starting to rise. "What have you done to its eyes?"

Suddenly, the blobs membrane popped in his hand, spilling its guts all over the floor. He grabbed the S-Plague by the top of its head and snapped it right off its neck. He growled and walked out of the room with the S-Plague head in his hand.

"Don't fuck up the eyes next time." He growled. He stormed out of there as fast as he could, along the way he dropped the skull, but he didn't care. He just had to get out of there. The eyes of that baby Plague seemed to haunt him.

'_So lifeless and dull… They look just like… Fuck it! Why do I have to keep thinking about that?_' Hunter was frustrated in himself more than anything. He couldn't get those eyes out of his head. He growled. '_Screw it all. I'm going to my garden. I wonder if those little shits have started to clean it up yet._'

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Soon, Hunter was back where he had tormented Gilbert the day before. He walked up to one of the doors carved into the dome and pushed it open. He sighed as the sweet smell of flowers filled his nose. It was a nice change from the stench of rot and decay that filled the rest of the island.

He calmly walked down the dirt path that winded through the vast garden. It was always using a storage spell to make things larger in the inside. His garden looked about the size of a basketball court on the outside, but on the inside it was as large as a city.

His garden was split into three sections: rain forest, forest, and flower garden. All three of his gardens were filled with species from all over the world, all of which thrived. He smiled to himself and started to walk down a path that had a few white stones in it. These seemingly random stones were markers that showed the quickest way to the middle of the garden.

After about an hour of walking, he made it to the center. In the middle was a large dome made of frosted glass and polished metal. It looked like a fancy bird cage.

He smiled and walked over to the door and pulled it open. "Anyone home?" He called. Inside was a four poster bed with velvet red sheets, a wardrobe filled with clothes, and a small desk. "I guess not…" muttered Hunter disappointedly. "Oh well… He's bound to be around here somewhere…"

He closed the door and started to walk around his flower garden. The hedges were over grown and were starting to consume the path. '_Note to self… make them trim this place up… Someone could cut themselves on the thorns… I prefer my garden to be blood free, thank you very much._'

He eventually found a patch of grass in his flower garden that wasn't ravaged by over growing vegetation and sat down. It was nice just to sit alone in his garden, although he often wished for company that didn't fear him or praise him or despise him.

Almost immediately he felt someone sit next to him. Hunter grinned. "How are you today?"

"It's a little warm." said the person. "But I don't mind. It's nice weather."

Hunter nodded in agreement, "Yeah… Have you eaten anything today?"

"Peaches." said the person. He passed Hunter a peach, "Want one?"

Hunter smiled and took the peach. He bit into it and sighed. He couldn't taste the peach at all. It just felt soft and went in his mouth. '_Why can't I taste anything?_' He thought. '_I can only taste blood… But normal food just doesn't seem to register on my tongue… I know what it should taste like but... What the hell am I thinking? Who gives a shit if all I can taste is blood? That hot metallic tang is all I need._'

"Hunter? Are you okay?" Asked the person sitting next to him.

Hunter sighed and took another bite of the peach. "I'm fine… But how are you? Explore anywhere new today?"

The person next to him nodded happily. "Yeah! I walked through the forest… But I tripped and cut my knee on a rock…"

Hunter frowned and looked down at the other person's legs. There was a rip in the knee of his pants and some dried blood dotted it. "You should have told me straight away." Hunter muttered. He licked his thumb and rubbed it over the cut. Almost instantly the cut vanished, not even leaving a scar.

Said person looked down at their leg and grinned, "You're amazing, Hunter."

Hunter chuckled as he ruffled his companion's soft blond hair and gazed into his soft violet eyes. He just wanted to rip out those eyes. Those eyes that always glazed over when they looked at each other. Those eyes that refused to truly acknowledge that he was really there. He wanted to pull out that hair and make him bleed. He wanted to cover that body with gruesome scars that would glisten in the moon light, always marking him as his.

But Hunter couldn't do that to him. Not to someone who looked so much like Canada… Someone who acted like Canada… But wasn't Canada at all. This person was a mirror, a mirage. He only reflected what Hunter wanted to see. He wanted Canada back so he used a bit of magic and got him back, but this Canada was so naive and innocent.

He had the trusting personality of a child wrapped in the body of a young adult. This Canada couldn't judge him for his past. He had no memory of the past the real Canada and he had shared. That hurt. It hurt a lot. But he couldn't hurt the copy. This copy of Canada was mortal. He could die. He didn't want that to happen. He was satisfied with the conversations he had with him at the moment.

"I saw some people today." said the Canada look-alike happily, "One of them had brown hair and green eyes. He had glasses like me and the other one had really white hair… like yours but lighter and shiny, like silver. That one swore a lot in German."

Hunter nodded, "Those are the new gardeners… How did you know he was speaking in German?"

The blond shrugged, "I don't know… It just sounded like German to me."

Hunter frowned, "Well stay away from them like you've done with the previous ones… They aren't good news. They are just here to tidy the place up. Don't talk to them."

The Canadian nodded quickly, "Okay, Hunter. I promise to stay away from them." He yawned and lied down on the grass, "I'm sleepy…"

Hunter chuckled and ran his fingers through the blond's hair, "Then sleep…" He really loved this creature. He was perfect in almost every way. This Canada that was brought into his existence by Hunter was his precious, secret treasure… And no one from the outside would ever taint him with the truth.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat:** So that was his chapter! I hope you liked it and are more confused than ever! Please review.


	51. Doppelganger

**Shinigami-cat: **Hey people! Here's the next chapter. The lyrics used are Say my name by Within Temptation… I OWN NOTHING!

**Doppelganger **

Gilbert Muttered several curses as he pulled another weed out of the ground. "This job sucks!" He exclaimed in frustration. "Why the fuck does he need such a fucking huge garden? This guy has no fucking life!"

Canada chuckled at Gilbert's antics as he clipped a few stray branches from a tree. "You're over exaggerating Gil. It's kind of fun."

Gilbert poked out his tongue. "Says you! I only know how to weed!"

"Well you can help me trim some of the plants back." Said Canada. "After all they told us to clean the pathways today."

Gilbert huffed and crossed his arms in a childish manner. "I don't care. Remember why we are here though."

"I know." Said Canada. "It was my plan, remember?"

"I remember." Muttered Gilbert. "I just don't see why he has such a fucking huge garden! Is he a major gardener or something?"

Canada shrugged and clipped off another branch. "I guess… I didn't really find out much about his gardening side before I ran for it."

"Fair enough." Said Gilbert. He crouched down and started to pull out more weeds. "By the way, do you think Hunter was serious about those fly traps?"

"There's no swamp here." Said Canada. "So, no. He probably just said that to scare you. He really hates you."

"What did I ever do to him?" Complained Gilbert. "Okay, so I tried to kill him and I talked back, but that's it! Nothing more, nothing less."

"He doesn't need an excuse to kill someone Gilbert." Said Canada calmly. "That's like asking why he decided to attack me… It was just bad luck. Nothing more, nothing less. It sucks but you have to play with the hand you've been delt." 

Gilbert groaned and ripped up another weed. "Fun… Can we take a break? My legs are killing me." Canada nodded and put down his branch cutters.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

They managed to find a nice patch of grass to relax on. It was quiet, the scent of hundreds of different flowers drifted around them. It was odd how something so beautiful could exist in a place so ugly. Gilbert yawned and leaned against a tree. He was watching Canada pick some apples off a tree for them to eat. It would be the first time in weeks since either of them had fresh fruit.

Canada had about six apples he collected using his shirt as a basket and walked back over to Gilbert smiling. "There are so many different things here. I think I saw a grape vine a few yards that way when I was up there."

Gilbert chuckled and grabbed an apple. He was never so happy to see the red fruit in his life. "Hunter could feed everyone here with this."

Canada shrugged and sat next to Gilbert, biting into an apple. "Well, Plagues only eat meat… And he doesn't care about humans, so it's all kind of pointless."

"Then why plant so many fruit trees in the first place?" Asked Gilbert curiously. "If no one's going to eat them, then why bother?"

Canada frowned and nervously played with the hem on his shirt. "Gilbert, Hunter made this garden for me…"

"What?"

Canada nodded. "It's true. After trapping me for so long he thought he had tamed me, so to speak, he thought if he gave this to me I would… I don't even know anymore. I thought I knew how his mind worked…"

Gilbert shrugged. "No one knows how a psycho's mind works. Don't beat yourself up over it."

"Not planning to." Said Canada. He sighed and took a bite out of an apple. "I gave that up a long time ago."

Gilbert shrugged and sighed. "Okay." He was about to take another bite when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He quickly turned his head and frowned. If he saw something, it wasn't there anymore. "Strange…"

"What?"

"I thought I saw something…" Muttered Gilbert. He stood up and walked over to where he thought he saw something and started to poke around the rose bush. "Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Why do rose bushes have to have so many thorns? Ouch."

Canada chuckled and walked over to him. "To stop animals from eating them."

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Don't be a smart ass… Ouch!" After a few more minutes of searching Gilbert was about to give up when it suddenly jumped out at him. A small ball of light. "Holly hell!" It quickly darted around Gilbert's head before diving back into the rose bush.

Canada's eyes went wide. "Wow… There's a light fairy in here."

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Of course it was a light fairy… Because it couldn't be something simple… like a lightning bug…"

Canada rolled his eyes and crouched down next to Gilbert. "Hey there… Don't be afraid…" He called out soothingly to the little fairy. "My name is Canada. This isn't how I really look. I usually have longer blond hair and I have purplish eyes. This other guy is my friend Gilbert. He came from a different world. Would you mind coming out here so we can talk? We won't hurt you."

After a few moments the little fairy emerged. It was extremely bright, so bright you couldn't see its body at all. All you could see is the white light it emitted. As soon as it appeared it started to fly around Gilbert's head again.

Canada chuckled. "Looks like you have a new friend Gil."

"Obviously." Said Gilbert as he tried to stop the fairy from flying around his head. "Quit it! You're giving me a headache!"

Canada chuckled. "Oh come on Gil… He's probably lonely."

Gilbert frowned and kept trying to knock it away. "Lonely or not I'm getting dizzy! Where did it come from anyway?"

Canada shrugged. "Well, Hunter kind of ripped chunks out of the earth to make this garden… so it might have gotten caught up in everything?"

"Makes about as much sense as everything else in this world." Muttered Gilbert. "Tell it to stop flying around my head!" Canada chuckled and quickly caught the fairy in his hands. He smiled and looked at it. His expression quickly changed to one of surprise, shock and something else, but it was impossible to tell what it was. He quickly let the fairy go and let it fly around Gilbert's head again.

"Let's get going." Said Canada quickly. "The fairy can tag along too."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow and quickly looked at the fairy. "You can fly around me, but stay in one place." Immediately the fairy stopped flying around his head and started to hover near his shoulder. "Better."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

With the fairy no longer trying to make him dizzy Gilbert started to follow Canada. After a while they were walking down another random path, Canada carrying hedge trimmers and Gilbert pushing a wheel barrow with a shovel and a rake in it.

"Where are we going?" Whined Gilbert childishly.

"We're meant to do some yard work near some pond or something." Said Canada. "Honestly, I have no idea where it is." Suddenly the fairy started to fly around erratically.

"Think sparky here knows the way?" Asked Gilbert. The fairy quickly flew up a path and waited for Canada and Gilbert to follow.

"I do believe you're right." Said Canada with a smile. "Let's go."

They followed the fairy along several paths. Gilbert sighed and looked down at his feet. "Hey… is it just me or are there a lot of white stones here?"

Canada raised an eyebrow and looked down. "Huh, I guess so… Weird…"

After a few minutes a dome life structure came into view. Gilbert frowned. "Weird… I think I've seen that before… But I can't remember why."

Canada shrugged. "I don't know either… I wonder… Let's got check it out!"

Gilbert sighed. "Sure… why not?" They walked over to the structure and had a good look around it; up close it looked like a bird cage made from frosted glass and polished metal and small clusters of pink flowers clustered around the base. All in all it gave off a pleasant vibe, but there was something off about it that made Gilbert's stomach turn.

'_Maybe we should just go._' He thought. '_This place gives me the creeps._'

Canada on the other hand seemed to have different ideas, he opened the door to the cage and walked inside. "No one's home Gil, we're fine."

Gilbert sighed and looked inside; four poster bed, a wardrobe and a desk. "Am I right in thinking Hunter lives in here?"

Canada shook his head. "No. Hunter designed this place to be my home… This place was meant to be where he would keep me, so to speak." He walked over to the desk and started to look through the draws.

"What are you doing?" Asked Gilbert. "Robbing the place?"

"Nope. Just seeing what's around." Said Canada as he pulled a hand held mirror out and frowned. "Vanity, tho art a harsh bitch."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "Wow. You must be pissed. Since when do you swear?"

"Only when I'm really upset." Said Canada. "He put the mirror back and walked over to the wardrobe and opened it. He started to pull out random articles of clothing and throw them across the room.

Gilbert frowned and walked up to him. "What are you looking for?"

"I don't know." Muttered Canada. "Just something I lost here last time… I just want to see if I can find it again."

Gilbert quickly dodged a belt that flew at his head. "Maybe I can help you find it? What are you looking for?"

"A necklace." Said Canada simply. "It's small, cross type thing. Prussia gave it to me and I just want it back."

Gilbert smiled sympathetically and nodded. "Okay. The awesome me will help you out."

Canada smiled and went back to looking through the wardrobe. "Tell me if you find it."

Gilbert crouched down next to the bed and looked under it. "Hey fairy, some light please." The fairy quickly flew under the bed and lit it up for him. "Thanks... Oh hey I found it!" Gilbert grinned and picked it up. It was covered in dust and a lot of dried blood. "What? Why is there so much blood?"

Canada grinned. "Thanks Gilbert." He took it off him and put it on. "I can't believe Hunter didn't find it."

"Why is it covered in so much blood?"

Canada shrugged. "Well… It was the only thing Prussia left behind for me… besides the pocket watch, but that's completely different. Anyway, I was afraid that Hunter would take it off me so I made a hole in the mattress I was sleeping on and put it in there. I guess the blood just seeped through it." He wiped some of the dust off of it and slipped it under his shirt. "Thanks for helping me find it."

Gilbert grinned. "I guess you had another motive for wanting to be a gardener than huh?"

Canada blushed and nodded. "Yeah… Well I just wanted it back… That's all… We should get back to work now, eh?" He put back the clothes that he threw around the room and walked out followed by Gilbert and the fairy.

"Okay enough procrastinating." Said Gilbert. "Let's just find that pond and slack off there."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

After a short walk the found a pond surrounded by trees and over grown bushes. They were about to get to work when the sound of singing caught them off guard.

_Say my name  
>So I will know you're back you're here again<br>For a while  
>Oh let us share<br>The memories that only we can share  
>Together<em>

_Tell me about  
>The days before I was born<br>How we were as children  
><em>

Gilbert quickly looked around. '_What the hell? Who is singing?_' Canada seemed to look equally confused.

_You touch my hand  
>These colours come alive<br>In your heart and in your mind  
>I cross the borders of time<br>Leaving today behind to be with you again  
><em>

Suddenly Canada grabbed Gilbert and pulled him to the ground. "What the hell?" Hissed Gilbert in frustration.

Canada rolled his eyes and pointed towards a tree near the pond. Someone was sitting on a swing, their back was facing them but they could see that they had blond hair and were wearing a grey shirt and jeans.

Gilbert could feel his throat go dry. '_Matthew?_'

_We breathe the air  
>Do you remember how you used to touch my hair?<br>You're not aware  
>Your hands keep still<br>You just don't know that I am here_

_It hurts too much  
>I pray now that soon you're released<br>To where you belong  
><em>

Gilbert's eyes were wide with shock. It looked so much like Matthew from behind, but he couldn't be certain. Yet he had a feeling that this was Matthew. It had to be. But it couldn't be. Matthew was dead. He couldn't possibly be here. He was gone. Never coming back ever.

_You touch my hand  
>These colours come alive<br>In your heart and in your mind  
>I cross the borders of time<br>Leaving today behind to be with you again_

He couldn't take it anymore. He had to know if it was him. He moved to stand up but Canada held him down. "What are you doing?" He snapped.

"It's Matthew." Said Gilbert. "I have to talk to him."

Canada rolled his eyes. "The same Matthew from your world? If that's him, how did he get here?"

"I don't know." Growled Gilbert. "But I have to talk to him." Once again he tried to stand up but Canada held him down.

"No." He growled. "Didn't you say he was dead?"

"Well yeah, but still…"

_Please say my name  
>Remember who I am<br>You will find me in the world of yesterday  
>You drift away again<br>Too far from where I am  
>When you ask me who I am<em>

_Say my name  
>These colours come alive<br>In your heart and in your mind  
>I cross the borders of time<br>Leaving today behind to be with you again_

_Say my name_

"You said he was dead." Hissed Canada. "Do you want to put your heart on the line and talk to that? What if it isn't him? What if it's just a trick?"

"Why would it be a trick?" Growled Gilbert. He was just about ready to punch Canada in the face when he heard the Matthew doppelganger speak.

"What do you think?" He asked happily.

"You know I always enjoy your singing." Said the disembodied voice of Hunter. "I always do… But you know you could sing something a little happier sometimes." After a few moments Hunter came into view, leaning against the tree that the swing was attached too. "It would be nice to hear you sing a cheerful song."

"I know…" Sighed the doppelganger. "But when I try, different words come out of my mouth… I don't know where they come from."

Hunter shrugged and ruffled the doppelganger's blond hair. "Hey, it's fine… Let's go do something fun. I know you like wandering around the forest."

The doppelganger quickly jumped up from the swing and grabbed Hunter's hand, pulling him away. "Thank you Hunter." He turned his head and gave Hunter a smile, this also gave Gilbert and Canada a clear view of his face.

When they were out of sight Gilbert jumped up. "It's him! It is Matthew! Didn't you see his eyes? It's him! It has to be!" He didn't even care that the fairy started to fly at full speed around his head again.

Canada growled and slapped Gilbert. Instantly silencing the albino. "Listen to me carefully Gilbert." He said, his voice and his eyes were ice cold. "Do you think Matthew would allow a monster like Hunter to touch him? Didn't you say that Matthew was dead? Don't let this place fool you. Hunter is an insane monster that enjoyed trying to kill me for fun. If anything that thing could be a clone that Hunter will kill later on to satisfy his blood lust."

"Are you hearing yourself?" Asked Gilbert in disbelief. "You sound crazy!"

"I make more sense than anyone in this world!" Snapped Canada. "The world doesn't revolve around you and your obsession to be with Matthew, which I thought you got over!"

"Well excuse me!" Cried Gilbert. "Excuse me for caring about someone! And for your information, Canada I love Matthew! I hate that he's gone and I want to find out what happened to him, but I don't obsess over him!"

"Says they guy that almost ran over to said doppelganger and almost got themselves killed by Hunter!" Yelled Canada. "You wouldn't have survived one second in this world if it wasn't for me!"

"Just shut up!" Yelled Gilbert. "If it wasn't for you I wouldn't even be in this world! I would be in my own world! But then I met you and you ruined everything!"

Canada looked at Gilbert with shock. "I ruined everything? You're the idiot that happened to walk into my shop. Let's be realistic here, if you didn't walk into my shop that day you would be dead! Bled out long ago, or thrown yourself out to sea!" Gilbert growled and stormed off, the fairy following. "Where the heck are you going?"

"I'm leaving!" Snapped Gilbert. "You can be an asshole all by yourself for all I care!"

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Wow… that got really intense right at the end there… Please review!


	52. Scream and Scream Again

**Shinigami-cat: **Let's see if those two get over their little fight. Also there's a little treat for you all near the end of this chapter, if you know what I mean. Kissy kissy… I OWN NOTHING!

**Scream and Scream Again**

After Gilbert had stormed off he ended up back in their room with the fairy randomly floating around as Gilbert growled darkly to himself. '_Who the hell does Canada think he is? I just wanted to talk to him… That bastard. I freaking hate him. Maybe I could find a parachute and jump off the side of this thing. Canada can kill Hunter alone._'

The door opened up and Canada walked in. "Hey Gil… Can we talk?" Gilbert rolled his eyes and looked away. Canada sighed and sat in front of the angry albino. "Look… I know you're angry at me for doing what I did… But if I didn't stop you, Hunter would have gotten you."

"Go to hell." Snapped Gilbert. "You keep trying to protect me, keeping me in the dark all the time, but you're not protecting me! You're just trying to be the hero, but you're not! You're just an idiot!"

"I'm not an idiot!" Cried Canada. His face was turning red with anger. "I made a promise to you and I'm going to keep it!"

"I don't care!" Yelled Gilbert. He couldn't take much more of Canada's bullshit. "That promise is worth nothing to me! You think I have problems with Matthew? What about you and your obsession with Prussia? You say you've gotten over it too, but every time you talk about him you get uncomfortable and change the subject! You haven't gotten over it! You're just supressing your feelings!"

"Shut up!" Snapped Canada in frustration. "Just shut up! I'm trying to say I'm sorry, but you keep acting like a jerk!"

"Got to hell!" Yelled Gilbert. He couldn't take too much more of this. "You keep rattling on about how I should get over Matthew and move on! But you do the opposite! You know what? I hope Hunter finds you and kills you! You annoying, whiny, selfish bastard!" As soon as the words left his mouth he regrated it.

After a few moments of silence Canada stood up and walked out the door. "If you hate me so much… I won't bother you anymore… Goodbye Gilbert." Canada slammed the door shut.

Gilbert sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. He knew he just screwed up big time. He didn't want Hunter to kill him. He was just angry and frustrated. Gilbert looked over at the fairy. "He's going to come back right?" The fairy kind of tilted to the side in an unsure way.

Gilbert frowned. '_Yeah… We share a room… He has to come back…_'

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

The sun had gone down and Canada still hadn't come back, and Gilbert was starting to get really worried. "Well I fucked up big time Twinkles." After waiting for Canada to comeback Gilbert had named the light fairy Twinkles.

Said fairy started to bounce up and down in the air, like it was nodding in agreement. Gilbert rolled his eyes. '_I guess I should check and see if Canada's hanging out with everyone at Hank's place._'

He stood up and walked out the door. "Stay here Twinkles." The fairy landed on the mattress and stayed there. It reminded Gilbert a little of a dog. He smiled and shut the door. With a guilty heart he started to make his way over to Hanks' room.

When he got there he opened the door and looked inside; Hank, Zero and Pip were sitting around talking and as soon as Pip saw Gilbert she grinned. "Gilly! How are you? Where's Mattie?"

"I was hoping that he would be here." Muttered Gilbert miserably.

"What happened?" Asked Zero. "You two get into a fight or something?"

Gilbert nodded. "Yeah… I said something I shouldn't have and he just ran off. I should have gone after him."

"What was the fight about?" Asked Pip, she was starting to bounce slightly with excitement.

And uncomfortable knot was starting to form in the pit of his stomach. "Just stuff… stupid stuff…"

Pip puffed out her cheeks. "But what did you say that upset him? I want to know!"

"Calm down Pip." Said Hank. "If Gilbert wants to say he will."

"But, but, but… Fine…" Huffed Pip as she crossed her arms. "I'll find out later anyway."

Gilbert sighed. "Yeah well, do you think you could help me look for him?"

Zero shrugged and stood up. "I got nothing better to do. I'll help out." He shook his head, letting a bit of water flick out as he walked out the door. "I hate working on those high pressure showers."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow and followed him. "Mind if I ask?"

"A ring or something got stuck in one of the drains and screwed up the whole system." Said Zero with a shrug. "But hey, it could be worse… They could have forced me to clean out their water system for their food."

Gilbert shuddered as they walked into the court yard. "Do I want to know?"

"Imagine battery hens in their cages." Said Zero. "But replace the hens with obese, cancerous, pudgy humans that get chunks ripped out of them every few hours so that the Plagues are full. Sometimes the hoses that they use to clean and or wash away the blood stuffs up… It reeks in there."

Gilbert felt a bit of acid creep up the back of his throat. "Gross."

"I know." Muttered Zero. He scratched his chin and looked around. "So… You know anywhere that Mattie would hide?"

Gilbert shrugged. "I don't know."

"Did he say where he was going?"

"He just said goodbye." Gilbert growled and pulled his hair. "I'm such an idiot! I shouldn't have said that to him!"

"Whatever you said, it couldn't have been that bad." He looked up at the night sky and frowned. He seemed to be thinking about something.

Gilbert bit his lip and muttered. "I told him that… I hope Hunter kills him."

Zero raised an eyebrow. "Ouch. That's a little harsh." He shrugged and started to walk through the court yard, occasionally climbing onto statues and having a quick look around before jumping off. "But hey, I guess you had your reasons for wanting him dead… I mean, he seems like a really nice guy, who obviously deserved that kind of abuse."

"Don't make me feel worse than I already am!" Snapped Gilbert. "I know I fucked up!"

"Gilbert! Zero!" Called Raven as she ran over to them, she was slightly out of breath from running and was covered in flour. "Matthew's gotten into the wine! He's blind stinking drunk! Scrap's doing all he can to stop him from making a huge mess, but that kid is strong!"

Gilbert gulped and started to run to the kitchen as fast as he could. He wasn't even anywhere close to the kitchen before he could hear shouting and things hitting the walls.

With caution he opened the door and looked inside; Scrap had Canada pinned against the bench while Canada was screaming and kicking and doing everything he could to throw the larger male off, broken pottery and flour were everywhere. "GET OFF ME!" Screeched Canada in a drunken slur. "YOU DON'T KNOW WHO I BLOODY AM! YA, FUCKING BASTARDS! LET ME DRINK IN PEACE! I'LL BITE YOUR ARMS OFF!"

Scrap just rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, yeah… Of course you will… Just calm down and I'll let you go."

Gilbert cringed slightly and walked over. "Hey Scrap… Um is he okay?"

Scrap looked over at Gilbert and rolled his eyes. "Does it look like everything's okay? This kid doesn't know when to stop!" Canada growled and kicked Scrap in the knee. Scrap gasped and let go of Canada, giving him the opportunity to escape, but he was so intoxicated he just fell to the ground.

"You hosers can go fack yourselves…" He slurred.

Scrap rolled his eyes and limped to the door. "He's all yours Gilbert. Good luck."

Gilbert nodded and walked over to Canada. He picked him up bridal style and started to walk back to their room. "You're an idiot."

Canada huffed and squirmed in Gilbert's arms. "Put me down you bastard!"

"No." Snapped Gilbert. "You're a drunken asshole at the moment."

"I'm not that drunk!" Growled Canada. "I'm just… I'm just pissed off at you. Why did you say that to me? What did I do to you?"

"We can talk about this when we get back to our room!" Snapped Gilbert. "You're making a scene!"

Canada poked out his tongue. "I'm not making a scene!"

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

When they got back to their room Gilbert put Canada back on the mattress and watched as Twinkles floated around them. Gilbert sat next to Canada and sighed. "Look… I'm sorry okay? I shouldn't have said that. It was a stupid thing to say."

"Then why did you even say it in the first place?" Whined Canada. He was starting to sober up a bit. "If you didn't mean it you wouldn't have said it!"

"I was stupid." Said Gilbert. "And, let's face it… You getting drunk was pretty stupid too."

Canada puffed out his cheeks and crossed his arms. "Don't you dare say I over reacted. Need I remind you about when you tried to throw yourself into the sea? Twice?"

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "I never said you over reacted. I just said you were stupid."

Canada huffed and leaned against the wall. "Well… Yeah… Well you should have just kept your mouth shut."

Gilbert sighed and pulled Canada close, he could smell the alcohol on him. "I know… I'm sorry… But you still didn't have to get drunk because of it…"

Canada nodded and closed his eyes, burying his face into Gilbert's shoulder. "Sorry… I knew you wanted to talk to that… Whatever he is… I just didn't want you to do something stupid and get killed…"

Gilbert smiled and ran his fingers through Canada's hair. "I know."

"And I'm sorry that I said you hadn't gotten over Matthew."

"I know."

"And I'm sorry that I yelled at you for no reason."

Gilbert smiled and wrapped his arms around Canada's waist. "That's okay, and I'm sorry that I said those things to you… I don't care if that thing looks just like Matthew… He's not. I know it… But it's still nice to pretend."

"Are you really over him?" Asked Canada. He shifted so that he was facing Gilbert. "Are you really over Matthew? Can you look me in the eye and honestly say you are over him?"

Gilbert looked directly into Canada's eyes. "Yes."

"Prove it." Said Canada.

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "How?"

Canada thought for second. "Kiss me." He said. "If you can do that without regret I'll believe you."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

Canada nodded. "Seriously."

Gilbert shook his head. "You are still drunk."

Canada frowned and leaned close to Gilbert's face. "I'm sobering up. Kiss me."

Gilbert sighed, he knew Canada would probably keep this up until he fell asleep so he may as well just appease the drunken man. He leaned forwards and pressed his lips against Canada's. It was a slow, uncertain kiss because both participants weren't exactly sure if they should pull back or keep going. Hesitantly Gilbert started to move his lips and Canada did the same.

Slowly the kiss became more heated as Canada wrapped his arms around Gilbert's neck and Gilbert wrapped his arms around Canada's waist, pulling him onto his lap. Suddenly Canada's tongue darted out and started to rub against Gilbert's bottom lip. Gilbert opened his mouth slightly and slipped his tongue into Canada's mouth, immediately dominating the kiss. He wasn't surprised to find that Canada tasted like alcohol. Canada moaned into the kiss and started to run his fingers through Gilbert's sliver hair, tugging at it slightly.

After a few moments they pulled apart for air, both were blushing faced and panting slightly. Gilbert cleared his throat and looked away. "There… You happy now?"

"Did you regret it?" Asked Canada. "Did you regret kissing me?"

Gilbert shook his head. "No. I just think that I could have done a billion different things besides kissing you to prove that I'm over him…"

Canada looked away, still blushing. "I guess you are… I also wanted to see if I was really over Prussia."

"Are you?"

Canada nodded. "Yeah… He would want me to be happy right? I believe everything happens for a reason but only way things can happen is if we do something. Actions always speak louder than words right?"

Gilbert smiled. "Right. So we're cool now?"

Canada nodded. "Yeah… I'm tired. Let's go to bed."

Gilbert agreed and lied down on the mattress, Canada curled up next to him, resting his head on Gilbert's chest and fell to sleep almost immediately. Gilbert on the other hand stayed awake. His chest felt heavy, not because of Canada, but because of something else.

'_I don't feel guilty do I?_' He asked himself as he watched Twinkles float around. '_Crap! I forgot Twinkles was here… Wait… Why do I care? It's just a fairy. Not like it would care if he saw two people making out…_' He clenched his teeth in frustration and let his breath slowly out his nose. '_Damn it Canada… I don't understand you at all! Do you like me or don't you? You don't seem like the kind of person who would kiss someone for no reason!_'

After a while he gave up thinking about it. He was tried. He would have to figure out Canada some other time. Right now he needed to sleep.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: ***hits head against the nearest wall* I can't decide if Canada likes Gilbert or not or is being a sneaky bastard and using his cuteness to stop him from arguing with him! Sneaky bastard… *hits head against the wall again* Anyway, please review.


	53. Time's up

**Shinigami-cat: **Hey guys! Did you know that it's been like seven months since I started writing this? How awesome and sad is that? Awesome because it's an awesome story and sad because that just shows how active my social life is huh? Oh well, I enjoy writing and I hope you all enjoy the next chapter… I OWN NOTHING!

**Time's up**

After the rather awkward kiss everything went pretty much back to normal between Gilbert and Canada except every now and then the other would catch the other staring at them causing both to blush and look away.

Pip and Raven had noticed the way they had been acting around each other and didn't hesitate to point it out every now and then. "So cute." Said Raven one day as she was dishing out a strange meat goo for lunch. "You two are so in love with each other."

Gilbert blushed and grabbed his bowl of goo. "We are not in love!"

Pip giggled and jumped up onto the kitchen bench. "Yes you are, yes you are! Ever since your little lovers spat the other day you two have been closer than ever!" She ate a glob of the goo and grinned. "Speaking of your little lover, where is he?"

Gilbert's blush darkened. "For the last time he is not my lover. Also he's back hurts so he's staying in our room."

Raven chuckled. "And what might you two have been doing to make his back hurt so much?"

Gilbert's eyes went wide. "Not like that you pervert! We had to cut down a tree and chop it up into mulch! My arms hurt from carrying so much of it!"

Raven laughed. "Weak excuse Gil. Weak excuse." She spooned a glob of goo into another bowl and gave it to Gilbert. "Give this to Matthew. I'm sure after such strenuous activity he's absolutely famished. He'll need to keep up his strength if you two keep going at it."

Gilbert rolled his eyes and grabbed the extra bowl. "We are not having sex!"

"I meant working in the garden." Deadpanned Raven.

Pip giggled. "He really is screwing with Mattie isn't he? He keeps denying it and the stronger he denies it the more truthful it seems!"

"You two suck!" Whined Gilbert in frustration. He and Canada were not together. Although his stomach did feel a little funny when people talked about them in that manner. It wasn't uncomfortable, more confusing than anything. It was similar to butterflies in his stomach, but more pleasant.

"At least we don't suck cock!" Said Raven and Pip in unison before bursting out in a fit of hysterical laughs.

Gilbert rolled his eyes and walked out of the kitchen. "I'm surrounded by comedians." He walked back to his room with food in hand. He kicked the door open and sat next to Canada, who was lying face down. Twinkles was flying around the Canadian in a curious manner. "Your back any better?"

"I never want to move another log again." He groaned.

Gilbert chuckled and ruffled Canada's hair. "I told you to lift with your knees. You never listen to me. Now sit up and eat your meat, oat, paste thing…"

Canada winced slightly in pain as he sat up and leaned against the stone wall. "Fantastic…" He picked up his bowl and looked at it. "I guess it's best not to ask what's in this?"

Gilbert nodded and ate a bit of it with his hands and ate it. "It's a little like mincemeat porridge… I'll admit I've had weirder so I can't complain."

"I'm sure you have." Canada sighed as he scooped up a small glob of the meat mush with his fingers and ate it. "This is gross."

"I'm sorry but they were all out of five star meals today." Said Gilbert sarcastically.

Canada rolled his eyes. "I don't want something fancy… I just want pancakes… I would kill a million Plagues just to have a small stack of pancakes." Said Canada. "Pancakes covered in maple syrup with a side of crispy bacon…"

Gilbert groaned. "Don't talk about that now… You're making me want it too."

Canada chuckled slightly. "Chocolate ice cream, beer, wurst, scrambled eggs, cotton candy, popcorn, cake, soft drink, cheese, pizza, lasagne, sushi, mashed potatoes, hot dogs, maple syrup, milkshakes, fish and chips, fried chicken, stake, caramel, fudge, brownies-"

"Shut up!" Whined Gilbert childishly. "I haven't had most of that stuff in over a year! Not cool Canada! Not cool at all!"

Canada laughed and quickly ate the rest of his food. "Let's get going than. I want to finish moving those trees."

Gilbert sighed and practically inhaled the rest of his food. "Fine."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

After half an hour they had managed to chop up the rest of the tree into mulch. Gilbert had complained several times that Twinkles should help out, but Canada had laughed it off and reminded Gilbert that Twinkles was a fairy. As their conversation progressed they started to talk more about the Canadian doppelganger that they saw.

"So what do you think it is?" Asked Gilbert as he leaned against his shovel.

Canada shrugged. "Well I'm guessing one of two things; one, he was someone who looked similar to me and Hunter just got him fixed to look more like me, but that's really unlikely." He started to spread some of the wood chips that they made around some of the trees. "Two, he's a meat suit."

"Yeah, I never understood what those were." Said Gilbert as he watched Twinkles dart around the tree branches.

Canada shrugged. "Meat suit, flesh suit, zombie… They are all pretty much the same thing, and I'm talking about actual zombies, not all that Hollywood flesh eating zombie stuff. I'm talking about the real deal, slave zombies." He stretched and yawned. "Anyway, they are pretty much slaves and or bodies that some high level demons and spirits can possess. It's a lot easier to possess a body that has no soul."

Gilbert could see the logic in that. "Seems legit."

"Anyway, they are pretty much made by dark or black magic." Said Canada. "They have really low intelligence, ranging from a one year old to a five year old, they follow simple orders that mostly consist of things like; stay there, don't eat that, eat this, tell me what you saw. That kind of thing."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "Did you swallow a text book or something?"

Canada huffed and puffed out his cheeks. "You learn a thing or two after living for over a hundred years."

Gilbert chuckled. "You look cute when you do that."

Canada blushed and looked away. "Please don't say things like that…"

"Why?" Asked Gilbert. "Everyone thinks that we're together."

Canada rolled his eyes. "By everyone you mean Pip and Raven?"

Gilbert shrugged and walked over to Canada. "Pretty much… Why did you want me to kiss you anyway?"

Canada blushed a dark shade of red and looked away. "I told you… I wanted to see if you were over Matthew and I was over Prussia…"

"No other reason?"

"No other reason."

Gilbert didn't believe him at all. He decided one way or the other he would get the truth out of him. Gilbert poked Canada's shoulder. "Tell me."

Canada frowned. "Quit it."

"Tell me. Tell me. Tell me. Tell me. Tell me. Tell me. Tell me." Said Gilbert, adding a poke to each word. "Tell me. Tell me. Tell me. Tell me. Tell me."

Canada rolled his eyes and did his best to stop Gilbert from poking him in the arms. "Stop it Gil!"

When poking didn't seem to work Gilbert tried a different approach. Tickling. He attached Canada's stomach and sides. "Tickle time!"

Canada cried out in fits of screams and laughs. "St-stop it!"

A wicked grin spread across Gilbert's face as he continued his assault. "Never!" After several failed attempts to push Gilbert away, Canada ended up falling over and Gilbert wasn't far behind still tickling him. "Mwahahahahahaha!"

Canada was laughing and kicking, doing anything and everything he could to get Gilbert off him but couldn't. "I c-can't breathe!" He choked out eventually.

Gilbert paused and grinned sadistically. "Are you going to tell me?"

"There's nothing to tell!" Cried Canada, his face completely red from laughing.

"I don't believe you." Said Gilbert in a sing song voice, before continuing his attack on the Canadian nation. "Tickle, tickle, tickle!"

"Okay! I like you!" Cried Canada as he tried to fight off Gilbert's attack.

Gilbert stopped and just looked at Canada. "Really?"

Canada nodded and quickly sat up, looking down at his hands. "Yeah… I've liked you for a while… But I'm afraid something bad will happen to us… I mean every time love comes into the picture something bad always happens." Tears started to fall from Canada's eyes. "Before Papa gave me to England he said that he loved me and I didn't see him for years afterwards. I saw what England's love for America did, it made him smother him and made America push him away… And before Prussia died he said that he loved me… Bad lings always happen when love is involved."

Gilbert couldn't believe what he was hearing. How could Canada think like that? He sighed and wrapped his arms around Canada pulling him into a tight hug. "Don't cry Canada… I'm not a hundred precent sure if I love you… But there's definitely something there."

"But you can't love me." Said Canada miserably. "You have to go back to your own world eventually."

"Then maybe I'll stay." Said Gilbert.

Canada pushed Gilbert away and frowned. "No! You have to go back home!"

"I can make my own decisions!" Snapped Gilbert. "And another thing… Is it just me or is your hair going blond again?"

Canada's eyes went wide and he quickly ran his fingers through his now wavy blond hair. "Oh no… Has it been two months already?" He cried in a panicked voice. His eyes were turning violet again. "Oh god no… What am I going to do? We haven't killed him yet! I'm going to die!"

Gilbert grabbed Canada and tried to calm him down. "It's okay! It's fine! We'll just… Um… dye your hair! I'm sure Raven or Pip will have something!"

"And my eyes!" Snapped Canada. "What about my eyes? Where the hell am I going to find contacts here?"

"Um… The first contacts were made from glass right?"

"You're not helping!" Screamed Canada. He started to pace around, his breathing started to pick up. "He's going to find me! He's going to kill me! I can't go back to that place!"

Gilbert gulped, he had no idea about how to calm Canada down. "It's okay! Maybe you can hide in here? It's not like he'll find you in here."

"Two gardeners Gilbert!" Snapped Canada. "He has two gardeners. Not one. Two. Also pretty much everyone knows we hang around each other a lot. They'll know something's up and that's it! I'm dead! If I stay here I'm dead! If I try to leave I'm dead! I'm dead! I'm dead! I'm dead! I'm dead!"

"Well what are we going to do?" Asked Gilbert. "If everything we do will just make you dead, what do we do?"

Canada gulped and shook his head. "I don't know… Maybe we can try and get back to our room without being noticed? If we can get there it will be easier to think…"

They quickly made their way to the nearest exit, Gilbert still carrying the shovel from earlier. It would make a useful weapon if the time came. They made it up the steps without a problem, but trouble started when they started to walk down a narrow corridor that a G-Plague was walking down.

It tilted its head slightly in confusion as it stared at both of them. Gilbert gulped. '_Do we look suspicious or something?_'

The G-Plague slowly opened it mouth, causing the skin stretched over its mouth to get pulled back like rubber bands and it let out a howling screech that shook the walls.

"RUN!" Screamed Canada. He grabbed the shovel out of Gilbert's hand and quickly side stepped the G-Plague, and swept the shovel under its feet, knocking it to the ground.

When it fell Gilbert quickly jumped over it and grabbed Canada's hand. "Let's go!"

They ran along several halls, not knowing where they were going or how lost they were getting. All they cared about was getting far away from the howling screams of the G-Plagues that were hunting them down.

'_It can't end like this!_' Though Gilbert frantically. '_There has to be some way out of this!_' As they ran he kept looking for ways to escape. A large wooden door caught his eye and he skidded to a halt. '_Bingo!_'

"What are you doing?" Hissed Canada. "We can't stop running now!"

"Shut up! I have an idea." Gilbert opened the door and grinned. "We can hide in here."

"A storage closet?" Hissed Canada. He quickly glanced over his shoulder, he could see the elongated shadows of the G-Plagues closing in. "They'll find us."

Gilbert waved it off. "We'll be fine. We just have to move now."

Canada shook his head. "They'll keep looking until they find one of us… Just hide in there I'll distract them."

"No way." Gilbert said as he grabbed Canada's arm. "We have to stick together."

Canada sighed. "I'm sorry Gilbert… I made a promise that I would protect you." He quickly spun out of Gilbert's grip and hit him with the shovel he was still carrying, making him stumble in pain before kicking him in the stomach, sending him flying backwards into the closet.

Gilbert groaned and tried to sit up. "Don't do this Canada."

"I'm sorry." Said Canada sadly. "Please promise me you'll try to find a way out of here… Goodbye." He shut the door. The sound of the lock clicking shut sent chills up his spine.

Gilbert stumbled to the door and tried to pull it open. When it was obvious that he wasn't going to be able to get out he started beating the door with his fists. "YOU IDIOT!" He screamed, his heart beating erratically in his chest. "YOU STUPID IDIOT! YOU CAN'T DO THIS! YOU ASSHOLE! YOU BASTARD!" He could feel angry tears starting to build up in his eyes and his voice started to waver. "… How could you do this to me? How could you do that? You stupid idiot…" He slid down to his knees and started to cry.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Yeah… I ended it on that depressing note and I shall leave you with many questions; will Canada escape the G-Plagues, will someone open the door and let Gilbert out, will Hunter find out about all this and most importantly of all… How long will it take me to update? Please review.


	54. The End of all Hope

**Shinigami-cat: **Hey everyone! This chapter's in Canada's POV. Be warned, there are sad times ahead… I OWN NOTHING!

**The End of all Hope**

Once Canada locked Gilbert on the closet he could feel his heart ache so badly, his pain only increasing as he heard Gilbert banging on the door. '_I'm so sorry… Please forgive me Gilbert… But I'm not going to let you die because of me._'

He looked down the hall and saw three G-Plagues quickly run over to him carrying spears. Canada gulped and started to run again. He wanted to lead those creatures as far away from where Gilbert was as possible. But after a spear was thrown at his head and scraped his cheek he decided to give up. There didn't seem to be much of a point anymore.

He dropped the shovel and held his arms up. One of them knocked him to the ground while the others held their weapons above him, ready to strike if he dared to run away.

'_Just take me to a cell somewhere_' He thought desperately. '_Take me somewhere far away where he won't look for me._'

Obviously he must have done something that made the universe hate him because right at that Hunter came around the corner. "What the hell is with all this screaming about an intruder? I was asleep damn it!"

Canada gulped and tried to make himself as small as possible, somehow thinking that Hunter wouldn't be able to see him. '_Please don't let him recognise me._'

He could hear the sound of boots walking towards him and saw them stop just outside his peripheral vision. Suddenly two of the G-Plagues yanked him up by his shoulders so that he was face to face with Hunter. Hunter looked down at Canada and smirked venomously. "Well, well, well, I knew you would come back to me eventually."

Canada just looked away. He refused to look up at Hunter's face. Hunter pouted and crouched down in front of him. He grabbed Canada's chin and tilted his head up so he could get a good look at him. He frowned at the scratch on Canada's cheek and ran his thumb over it, wiping away the blood. "Who did this to you?"

Canada said nothing. He just looked over at the wall, shaking slightly. Hunter made an irritated noise before standing up. He looked at the three G-Plagues and their weapons. Only one had a slight hint of red.

Hunter smirked and casually walked up to the G-Plague with the slightly bloodied weapon. As quick as lightening he shoved his hand inside the creature's body and pulled out its spine. The G-Plague fell to the ground, dead, without a sound. Canada flinched, he hated seeing mindless acts of violence. '_Monster._' He thought. '_You care about nothing. We're all just toys to you aren't we? Something you can abuse and throw away once you are done._'

Hunter threw the spine onto the ground before turning to face the remaining G-Plagues. "If anyone besides myself leaves a single mark on Canada's body, I will kill them. He is mine. Is that clear?"

Canada frowned. '_Shit._'

The G-Plagues slowly nodded. "Good." Grinned Hunter as he looked over at Canada. Said Canadian was still looking at the wall, away from Hunter and the dead G-Plague. "Take Canada back to his room, and make sure the door is locked properly this time." Said Hunter as turned and walked away. "I don't want my Birdie to run away again."

The surviving G-Plagues grabbed Canada by his arms and dragged him away down the hall. Canada could feel his heart pounding rapidly in his chest. '_It's happening all over again isn't it? I can't… I can't… I can't believe this is happening again... I'm going to die. _'

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Canada shivered as he was thrown back into the room where he had wasted so many years of his life already; cold stone floors splattered with dried blood, several hooks and chains hanging from the ceiling, a metal fold up chair in a corner, a bloodied mattress off in the corner and a table right in the middle of it all covered in scratch marks, dried blood and leather straps to fix the victim in place.

He sat on the mattress and started to cry. He was back in hell. "Why does this keep happening to me?" He whimpered. "I'm back in hell." He didn't know how long he sat there crying, but by the time he was done his eyes were all red and puffy. He sniffled. "No… I can't act like this. He's done so much to me already. There's nothing he can do to me that'll surprise me anymore."

Suddenly the door opened and Hunter walked in. He closed the door behind him and locked the door. Canada gulped and closed his eyes. He knew that whatever Hunter was going to do to him, he would do it soon.

The sound of his boots on the cold stone floor made Canada's blood run cold with fear. Suddenly Hunter grabbed a fist full of Canada's hair and pulled him to his feet.

Canada yelped and grabbed Hunter's wrist. Hunter just chuckled and slammed Canada into the wall. "Years… So many fucking years… How dare you run away from me."

"How could I not?" Whimpered Canada. "You were trying to killing me."

"Any retard can kill someone." Snarled Hunter, his grip tightening. "It takes skill to keep someone right on that knifes edge of life and death."

Canada glared at Hunter. "Skill? You think that's a skill? You're nothing but a psycho with way too much free time on his hands."

Hunter growled and punched Canada in the jaw, letting him fall to the ground. "Shut up bitch." He hissed.

Canada slowly sat up, blood filling his mouth. He spat some blood up, not caring if it got on Hunter's shoes. "You always were obsessed with bird cages… You have to make people feel like animals. Like we're worthless."

Hunter smirked as he pulled the chair over and sat on it. "I only give people what they deserve."

"Right… Because humanity deserved to be destroyed by your Plagues." Said Canada. "Sure… They destroyed the world with their poisons and toxins… Killed off countless species… And violently killed each other, but they were learning. They were trying to stop what they were doing and reverse the affects."

Hunter clicked his tongue in annoyance. "This is why I don't understand you. You see the good where I only see bad. I'm just wiping the world clean."

"Then shape it in your own image?" Snapped Canada. "You can't play God! Empires have tried to shape the world through blood but it never works!"

Hunter shrugged. "Who cares? If I burn I'm going to burn the rest of the world with me."

Canada sighed sadly. "What do you want Hunter? If you're going to kill me then just do it… That is if you can."

Hunter smirked and swung his sword at Canada, stopping right before the blade touched his neck. "Don't underestimate me. I can kill you when and if I want."

"Yet you don't." Growled Canada. The sword didn't faze him at all. "You had a hell of a long time to do that but you didn't… Why? Why can't you kill me?"

Hunter shrugged and grinned. "Why do you ask? You think that there's some good in me? You'd probably be the first to see that.

"I know there is no good in you." Hissed Canada. He pushed the sword away from his neck. "There's only fear. That's why I'm still alive. You're afraid to kill me."

Hunter threw back his head and laughed maniacally. "Me? Afraid of you? Why the hell you I be afraid of you? You're nothing but a stupid little country that has no hope of ever leaving here alive."

Canada smiled sweetly. "Then you should be terrified of me." He said. "Because unlike you I have nothing left to lose. That makes me a million times more dangerous then you will ever be."

Hunter leaned back in his chair; he seemed to be thinking over what Canada had said. "If you fight the same as you did when I mascaraed your citizens you aren't much of a threat."

"And if you fight the same as well as you interrogate I'll win without lifting a finger."

"Cocky aren't you?"

"Better than being an over confident asshole."

Hunter raised an eyebrow. "Talking back now are we? Do you really think that's wise? I mean you're the prisoner here and I'm the one with all the deadly weapons."

"I don't care!" Spat Canada. "What more can you do to me?"

An insane grain spread across Hunter's face. "A challenge is it?"

Canada's eyes went wide and he began to tremble, realizing the grave he dug for himself. "No."

Hunter laughed. "You are so easy to scare. It isn't even a challenge!"

"Got to hell." Hissed Canada. He couldn't take much more of Hunter's bullshit. If he just wanted to talk he could talk as much as he wanted to, but Canada didn't want to listen.

Hunter just laughed at him. "Keep talking kid. You are just digging yourself into a deeper hole… Anyway, I've got a question for you. Why did you bring that kid from that backwards world here? He doesn't belong here, just like you didn't belong there."

"I'll save that story for another time." Growled Canada. Show no weakness in the face of a heartless enemy. They'll always find a way to twist that fear around and use it to their advantage.

Hunter pouted a little. "Aw… My toy doesn't want to talk anymore?"

"I'm not your toy." Hissed Canada. "I don't belong to you. I don't belong to anyone."

Suddenly Hunter lunged forwards and gripped the front of Canada's shirt growling. "You are mine, don't you understand? Mine! You belong to me!"

Canada growled. "I didn't belong to you then and I sure as hell don't belong to you now."

Hunter smirked. "So you grew a spine… How annoying. Not to worry I'll just have to break you in again. Shouldn't take more than a few months with positive re-enforcement…" He lazily brushed some hair out of Canada's eyes, his smirk becoming more feral. "Or I could just retrain you in twenty four hours with negative re-enforcement. As you know I'm a lazy man so we'll be going for the quicker option okay?"

Canada gulped, his eyes wide with fear. "You don't have to do this…"

Hunter smirked and gently caressed Canada's cheek with his gloved hand. His smirk never leaving his cracked lips. "Oh, but I want to…"

In the blink of an eye Canada bit Hunter's hand, sinking his teeth in as deep as he could, ripping through the leather glove, piercing the flesh, filling his mouth with the warm, hot taste of blood. One thought raced through Canada's mind at that moment. '_I've done it now! He's going to kill me!_'

Hunter just frowned and patiently waited for Canada to let go. He could see the fear and realization starting to burn in his eyes. "You done yet?" He asked.

Reluctantly Canada's jaw slackened slightly and he quickly moved away, keeping his head down and his eyes shut. Preparing himself for the inevitable. '_I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I'm going to die._'

Suddenly he got kicked in the face by one of Hunter's combat boot right in the mouth, sending him falling flat onto his back as the taste of his own blood filled his mouth. He clutched his mouth and let out a strangled cry.

Hunter chuckled and quickly pounced on him, pinning him to the ground. "You made me bleed. It's only fair."

Canada screamed and started to thrash around, trying desperately to push Hunter off. "Get off me!" He shouted. "Leave me alone!"

Hunter chuckled and pinned Canada's hands above his head. "Not going to happen Canada. You've been a bad little Birdie. Flying away like that… I warned you what would happen if you tried to run but you didn't listen to me." A sadistic smirk appeared on his face. "How did it go again? Bad little Birdie stay in your cage, watch all of your friends die away, because soon you will be next, choking on your blood and fears. If I find you have escaped me, I will have to tear off your wings, so don't fly away my beloved little bird and just drown in your tears… Now since you don't have wings, should I rip off your arms or legs?"

Canada's eyes went wide. "Please… Please don't do that…"

Hunter chuckled darkly. "How else should I punish you? Well I can think of about a billion different ways, none of which you would like very much."

"How about you don't and we say we did." Said Canada nervously.

"You're funny." Said Hunter. "I missed this… That little bit of playful conversation right before the real fun starts…"

Canada gulped. "You know we have different definitions of fun right?"

Hunter smirked and pulled a knife out of his belt, driving it through Canada's hands, through the floor and twisted, effectively pinning him to the ground. Canada screamed in pain and Hunter happily watched. Soon his screams of pain died down to whimpers and sobs.

Hunter chuckled darkly. "Now don't you go tugging at that now… You don't want to mutilate your hands now do you?" He smirked and started to pull down the Canadian's pants, but as soon as Canada felt Hunter's hands on his hips he screamed again and started to thrash around, not caring if he damaged his hands.

"NO! GET OFF ME!" He screamed. "DON'T TOUCH ME! LEAVE ME ALONE! GO AWAY! GO AWAY! GO AWAY! GO AWAY! GO AWAY! GO AWAY! GO AWAY! GO AWAY! GO AWAY! GO AWAY! GO AWAY! GO AWAY! GO AWAY! GO AWAY! GO AWAY!"

Hunter growled and started to strangle Canada. "SHUT UP! I'LL DO WHAT I WANT TO YOU! YOU BELONG TO ME! KNOW YOUR PLACE! I'LL DO WHAT I WANT TO YOU AND YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT!" He released his grip on Canada's neck and watched him cough and splutter for a bit before he ripped off the Canadian's pants and boxers.

Canada yelped and pulled his legs up to cover himself. Fear was shining in his large pleading eyes. "Please… Please don't do this…"

Hunter smirked and unzipped his pants, pulling out his half hard member, stroking it a few times to get if fully erect. "I'll do what I want to you, whenever I want, wherever I want and you know why? Because I can." He grabbed Canada by the thighs and pulled his legs apart. "Now you're going to lay there and take it like the whore you are. I don't care if you scream until you start coughing up blood. I'm not going to stop until I've had my fun."

Canada gulped and screwed his eyes shut. He knew he couldn't stop what was going to happen. '_Not again! This can't be happening again! Why me? Please make him finish quickly! Please make him finish quickly! Please make him finish quickly!_'

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Canada opened his eyes and groaned in pain. Everything below his waist felt like it was on fire and everything above his waist was just in pain. His hands on the other hand were a completely different story. They were bandaged up, probably stitched together too and they felt like they were burning. He wasn't sure when he blacked out or how long he blacked out for. He was just grateful that he did.

He sighed and touched his neck, expecting to feel the necklace hidden under his shirt, but felt nothing. He gasped and sat up, ignoring the intense pain in his lower back.

"Looking for this?" Asked Hunter. He sat perched on top of the table swinging the necklace on his fingers with a smirk on his face. "It's amazing what you can find out about a person by searching them once they pass out. Seriously though, you need to work on your pain threshold. You've gone soft."

"Give it back." Growled Canada, his voice sounded harsh and broken.

"Yeah… I wouldn't talk too much if I were you." Muttered Hunter. "You were screaming your head off. Probably damaged your vocal cords a bit." He walked over to Canada and kneeled in front of him, grabbing his arm. "Now don't struggle… I need to give you a shot of morphine."

He pulled a syringe out of his pocket and jabbed it into Canada's arm, injecting the liquid into his arm. Canada cringed but felt a small flood of numbing warmth through his body. '_What the hell's in that? Way too strong to be morphine…_'

Hunter chuckled and pushed Canada back onto the mattress. "Good boy." His said. "Get some sleep."

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **… Now I feel guilty. Please review?


	55. Plans made

**Shinigami-cat: **Hey everyone… Look I feel guilty about what happened to Canada, but don't worry everything will turn out alright in the end! Once you hit rock bottom the only why left to go is up. Damn I'm getting these chapters out fast… Also the cover competition is almost over. BTW it ends on August 7th… I OWN NOTHING!

**Plans made**

Gilbert groaned in pain as he slammed into the door again. He had been doing everything he could to open it for the past hour but nothing was working. "Fucking open!" Growled Gilbert darkly. He needed to get out there and find Canada. He had to save him from those G-Plagues and Hunter. "Open up damn it!" He screamed.

Suddenly someone knocked on the door. "Hello? This is Pip. Who's Mr grouchy on the other side of this door?"

Gilbert grinned. "Pip! It's me Gilbert! Open up this door!"

Pip giggled. "What happened Gilly? Did Mattie lock you in? Oh, did you hear those G-Plagues before?"

"I know!" Growled Gilbert. "Open up the damn door!"

"Fine." Sighed Pip. Moments later the door was open and Gilbert ran out into the hallway. He started to run down the hall, but Pip caught his arm. "What happened? Tell me already!"

"Crazy shit." Snapped Gilbert. He tried to pull his arm out of Pip's grip but she was too strong. "Let me go! I have to find him before those G-Plagues do something to him!"

Pip sighed. "The G-Plagues were after you two? Gilbert… if they got Matthew he's probably dead by now."

A chill ran up Gilbert's spine. "Dead? He can't be dead."

Pip shrugged. "Well… I'm sorry but it's true. When G-Plagues or S-Plagues go after someone, that someone never returns alive."

"But I have to find him!" Cried Gilbert in a panic. "If Hunter finds him, he'll die!"

"Calm down Gilly." Said Pip. "I'm sure Mattie's death was quick and almost painless. He's long dead by now."

Gilbert grabbed Pip by her shoulders and shook her. "You don't understand!" He snapped. "Matthew isn't Matthew. His name is Canada!"

Pip's eyes went wide with shock. "Canada? The personified nation? But… but we were told that he was dead… Like a lot of the third world nations…" She grabbed Gilbert's arm and pulled him down the hall.

"Where the fuck are we going?" Hissed Gilbert.

"We need to find Scrap." She said. "He knows more about all the country stuff than me."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

"So let me get this straight." Said Scrap as he rubbed some of the dirt off his face. "Matthew is not Matthew, but is in fact Canada, the personified country, that pretty much everyone thinks is dead and Hunter wants to kill him?"

Gilbert nodded. "Yes."

Scrap shook his head and took a swing of Raven's cooking wine. "You're mental."

"I'm not crazy!" Snapped Gilbert.

"Hear the poor boy out honey." Said Raven. "And stop getting dirt all over the kitchen."

"Sorry love." Said Scrap. He looked back at Gilbert and sighed. "Okay here's a quick crash course on the history of Canada; twas French, twas English, twas independent, twas wiped out in twenty four hours. End of story. No survivors. No personified nation. Nothing."

"But he is a personified nation!" Snapped Gilbert. He didn't understand what was so hard to believe. Especially since they seemed to believe that personified countries were real.

"But he's dead." Said Scrap. "There's no way that he could still be alive! If anything he's become a Plague."

Gilbert started to pull his hair in frustration. "You're all idiots! Canada's been living here for two months and now Hunter's got him! Who knows what that freak has done to him!"

"I say dead." Said Pip as she nibbled on a bread roll.

"He's not dead!" Snapped Gilbert.

Pip held up her hands and shrugged. "Calm down. Just saying…"

"He's not dead!" Yelled Gilbert. "He's not! He's not! He's not!"

"Hey!" Snapped Scrap. "Don't yell at her! She didn't do anything. The only thing she did was help you!"

"I know…" Growled Gilbert. "But it still pisses me off. How do you guys know about the countries anyway?"

"When it all went to hell they took charge." Said Scrap. He sat on the bench and thought for a bit. "You see… Things had gotten really bad in Canada. It was uninhabitable, but people from America, mainly military, were sent to make sure that none of the Plagues could cross the border. Well that and to study them of course."

Raven nodded and started to wipe the dirt off her once clean kitchen bench. "But after a few years the Plagues just attacked and in a matter of weeks the whole continent was wiped out. Very few people escaped."

"Then there was me and my group." Said Scrap with a smirk. "We were able to defend ourselves for a few years. Only got picked up about seven of eight months ago."

"You're off track." Said Pip as she swung her legs.

"Oh right…" Muttered Scrap. "Anyway, the Nations quickly got together and decided to reveal that they were real and that the personification of Canada was no more."

"But he's not dead!" Yelled Gilbert. "Prussia survived years after his nation was dissolved!"

"He did?" Asked Scrap in confusion. He shrugged and frowned. "Oh well, not like he could do anything anyway. I mean he's not here now anyway right?" He drank some more of Raven's cooking wine and sighed. "It's not like our countries can do much to save us now anyway. They had their chance. As far as I'm concerned we don't owe them anything, and if Canada really is still alive we owe him less than nothing."

"What did you say?" Growled Gilbert. He clenched his fists in anger, ready to punch Scrap right in the face.

Scrap failed to see the anger written all over Gilbert's face and shrugged. "Well this all started in his country right? He should have killed Hunter before this started. If he's still alive and Hunter's got him I say he's gotten what he deserves."

That was the final straw. Gilbert launched himself at Scrap and knocked him backwards onto the bench and started to strangle him. "SHUT UP!" He screamed. "HE DOESN'T DESERVE TO DIE YOU IDIOT! HOW DARE YOU THINK THAT! CANADA DOESN'T DESERVE TO DIE BECAUSE OF A MISTAKE HE MADE! DID YOU EVER THINK THAT MAYBE HE WASN'T STRONG ENOUGH TO KILL HIM?" Raven and Pip quickly pulled the raging albino off Scrap and held him back as best they could, but it was difficult.

Once Scrap could breathe properly again he sat up and glared at Gilbert with hatred. "You little shit!" He hissed. "He was a fucking country! Sure he wasn't a superpower like America, but he should have been able to kill Hunter! All countries are strong enough to kill anyone and anything born in their country! Canada was strong enough to kill Hunter but he didn't!"

"What?" Gilbert growled, shrugging Pip and Raven off his arms.

Scrap nodded. "You heard me. Canada let Hunter live. All the H-farms, all the Plagues, all this death, all of this is Canada's fault."

"It's not his fault." Hissed Gilbert darkly.

Raven tapped Gilbert on the shoulder and smiled kindly at him. "Don't stress too much about what Scrap says to heart. He means well, but he's as stubborn as an ox. A true American through and through."

"I'm not stubborn!" Snapped Scrap.

Gilbert sighed and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. "Okay that's all well and good, but I still need to save Canada. I need to know where he is."

"If he's still alive he'll be in a room somewhere." Said Pip.

"Thanks Pip." Muttered Gilbert sarcastically. "You just cleared that right up for me right there…"

Pip pouted and crossed her arms. "Well, I was going to say if you wanted to know which room to find him in you should ask Zero. He practically lives in the pipes. He knows the whole place like the back of his hand."

"Well where is he?" Snapped Gilbert. "If I'm going to save him, I need to do it now! Who knows what Hunter's done to him?"

Scrap shrugged. "Let's see… the top two things I can think of are rape and torture."

Gilbert felt like he was going to be sick. '_If Hunter raped him… Oh god no… I'll kill him, and if he tortured him I'll kill him. He won't get away with this._'

Suddenly the door to the kitchen creaked open and Hank walked in, closely followed by Zero. Zero looked like he was going to be sick. "Anyone got any wine?" Asked Hank. "Zero's had one hell of a day."

Scrap shrugged and handed over his bottle of cooking wine. "What happened?" Zero said nothing. He just grabbed the bottle and drank as much as he could.

"You're not going to get anything out of him until he drinks." Said Hank, watching Zero closely. "I found him curled up under some blankets in his room. Whatever happened while he was working obviously scared the shit out of him."

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Okay, we can figure that out later." He walked over to Zero. "Okay Zero. You know this place inside and out. I need help finding a room where my friend was taken. Probably somewhere where Hunter could easily get to."

Zero's eyes went wide and he shook his head vigorously. "No way in hell am I going back in there. I do not want to hear that screaming again!"

Gilbert gulped. "Screaming?"

"You hear screaming all the time." Said Scraps. "Why the hell would this be any different?"

"The screaming wouldn't stop." Whispered Zero. "It kept going and going and going… and I could hear Hunter laughing…"

Pip frowned. "I still don't get it. What happened?"

Zero shivered. "Well… I was working on this water pump thing that was really rusty when the screaming started… At first I thought that it was just some S-Plagues doing their usual dirty work but the screaming was different… It wouldn't stop and it sounded like whoever was screaming was in so much pain…"

Raven sighed. "Before you keep talking, maybe you should drink something stronger than that…" She ducked under the bench and pulled out a large jar and gabbed a cup. "Scotch." She said as she poured a Zero some. "Hunter has a million barrels of this down in storage and never drinks any of it. He prefers beer."

Zero smiled a little and too a sip. "Oh yeah, that's the stuff… Anyway I got curious as to where all the screaming was coming from so I followed the screaming up a few pipes… and then I saw it…" He shivered and drank some more. "Now I've seen a lot of scary stuff… We all have. But we always know that after a short time they won't be in pain anymore… But this was just sick…"

"Just spit it out!" Snapped Scrap. I can't stand the suspense."

"Hunter was raping someone." Said Zero bluntly.

Gilbert's eyes went wide. "Did he have blond hair? Violet eyes?"

Zero nodded. "Yeah, he had blond hair… Not too sure about his eyes though… He was beaten up really badly too… By the time I got there the guy was unconscious and Hunter was laughing… Hell I don't even know if that guy was dead!"

"Scary." Said Pip. "He Gilly, was that the guy you're looking for? Oh no! Gilly's crying!"

Gilbert frowned and touched his cheeks. They were damp. '_Huh? I didn't even notice… I'm definitely going to kill Hunter now. I'll slit his throat. There's no way I'll let him get away with that._'

"Did he have a name?" Asked Hank. "I mean, did Hunter say the guy's name at all?"

"Yeah…" Whispered Zero. "He called him Canada."

Gilbert felt numb. He didn't know why he felt that way. He already knew that it was Canada. But just hearing Zero say his name made it seem all the more real. '_That bastard… I will kill him._'

Scrap shrugged. "So I was wrong. Canada's still alive and kicking… Well alive anyway."

Gilbert glared at Scrap. "Do you still think Canada deserves everything he got? He's not some higher power. He's as human as you or me. The only difference is he's pretty much immortal. So no matter what Hunter does to him he won't die."

Scrap shrugged. "No offence, but I couldn't care less. He wasn't even my country. He was just America's hat. It's not like he ever did anything that important."

Something in Gilbert's mind snapped and he attacked Scrap again. This time he knocked the man to the floor and started to punch him. "SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP AND FUCKING DIE! YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

Before Scrap could punch him back Hank pulled Gilbert off by the back of his shirt. "Hey! Calm down kid!"

"THAT BASTARD DESERVES TO DIE!" Screamed Gilbert. "DO YOU KNOW WHY CANADA AND I CAME HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE? WE WERE GOING TO KILL HUNTER! CANADA HAS NOTHING LEFT IN THIS WORLD AND HE STILL DECIDED TO TRY AND SAVE BASTARDS LIKE HIM!"

Scrap growled and wiped the blood off his now split lip. "What are you going to do about it then? You going to try and save him? Fuck that. You should learn to look after no one but yourself. Canada got himself into this mess he can get himself out."

Gilbert screamed and tried his best to pull himself out of Hank's grip. "FUCK YOU! NO ONE DESERVES THE SHIT THAT HE'S BEEN THROUGH! YOU HEARTLESS ASSHOLE! YOU COULDN'T EVEN IMAGINE THE SHIT THAT'S HAPPENED TO HIM! AND YOU KNOW WHAT? I'M GOING TO SAVE HIM!"

"Well you're a fool for even thinking that." Snarled Scrap. He glared icily at everyone else in the kitchen. "And any of you dumb enough to even think about helping him deserve to die. Remember that when you're caught and bleeding to death."

A cold silence filled the room, only broken by the sound of Pip clearing her throat. "If Mattie, I mean Cancan is in trouble I say we help him."

"You're siding with him?" Snapped Scrap.

Pip nodded. "Cancan and Gilly are my friends, just like everyone here. When people get taken by the Plagues down to where they die, than it's goodbye for good. But if Cancan is still alive I say we save him!"

"I agree." Said Raven. "Canada isn't responsible for what happened. More powerful forces are at work here. Besides Canada has become our friend hasn't he?"

"I can try and find a place for him to stay…" Muttered Hank. "There are hundreds of rooms where Hunter and the Plagues never visit…"

"I have some tools we could use to break into the room." Said Zero. "But It could take a few days to get because the S-Plagues keep an eye on all the tools."

"I can't believe you guys!" Cried Scrap. "You're all going to risk your lives for that thing? Come on, he isn't human! He's a country! The country where all this started!"

"By the same logic you blame the personification of Germany for both World Wars." Hissed Raven. That shut Scrap up. "We are a family… a very messed up family, but we stick together and it's because we stick together as a family that we will save Canada. He's one of our own."

Scrap shook his head and walked to the door. "You guys can go and get yourselves killed. I'm going to stay alive."

"And don't come back!" Snapped Gilbert. As soon as the door shut Gilbert turned to Zero. "Okay, when can you get those tools?"

"Two, maybe three weeks." Said Zero. "It's not ideal, but it'll take me that long to find and cause enough havoc with the water system for the S-Plagues to allow me to have an assistant. I assume you'll want to come with me Gil."

Gilbert nodded. "Try and make it one week." He turned to Raven. "Are you good with medicine? We'll need really strong pain killers and all manner of things like splints and stuff. That creep probably broke some of Canada's bones."

"Done and done." Said Raven with a smile.

Finally Gilbert turned to Pip and Hank. "We'll need blankets, food, water and all that stuff in a secret room."

"Yes sir!" Said Pip with a wicked grin.

Hank nodded. "Okay… But what are you going to do?"

Gilbert smirked dangerously. "I'm going to kill Hunter."

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **And that's that! Please review!


	56. Numb

**Shinigami-cat: **So from now on I think I'll try alternating between Gilbert and Canada's POV. So this chapter will be Canada's and the next will be Gilbert's. Also lots of people have been giving me some harsh feedback about certain aspects about this story, all I can say is I'm sorry my grammar sucks so much. I'm doing my best, but I've never been that good at grammar. Please forgive my stupidity. Apart from that everything has been really helpful and constructive. Also the lyrics used are Isn't Something Missing by Evanescence. Now on with the story… I OWN NOTHING!

**Numb**

Tears streamed down Canada's face as he felt the scalpel dig into his skin again. "Please stop…" He whimpered pitifully. He was strapped down naked to the table while Hunter happily cut him in different places with the scalpel, and just to add that little extra element of fear, a large mirror was fixed to the roof so Canada could see everything Hunter was doing to him.

"Shut up." Snapped Hunter. "I haven't even opened you up yet." He made a small incision in the skin in Canada's forearm and peeled a small amount of skin back. He chuckled and poked the muscles, enjoying the way Canada twitched and his muscles jerked around.

Canada whimpered and gritted his teeth in pain. '_He'll get bored eventually._' He thought. '_I just have to wait it out. He'll find something better to do later… Damn it! It hurts so much!_'

Hunter smirked. "You got something to say? You may as well spit it out"

"Why me?" Asked Canada. "Why not that copy you haven in the garden?"

"Oh… so you saw that…" Muttered Hunter. He sighed and frowned, a look of something similar to shame, but not quite spread over his face. "After you left I was so angry at you… I wanted you back… So I pulled a few strings, killed some people, destroyed some animals and found a spell and after a few failed attempts I got that."

"So why don't you just attack that." Hissed Canada darkly. "You've probably raped it too."

Hunter pressed the scalpel against Canada's neck. "Bite your tongue." He growled. "I did no such thing. Do you have any idea how hard it was to get that here? It's too fragile to do what I do to you. I'd kill it way to easily."

"I see…" Snarled Canada. "You use that to make yourself feel better. You pretend that you're human but you know you're just kidding yourself. You have no humanity Hunter. You're a sick freak."

"What's with all the pent up rage cutie?" Asked Hunter with a sick grin. "I thought you wanted to try and change me? Make me all peaceful and shit? You and your stupid peaceful nature."

"Sometimes words don't work." Hissed Canada.

"And it only took you a little over sixty years to figure that out." Chuckled Hunter. "You're pretty slow on the uptake there." He pulled a marker out of his pocket and started to draw dotted lines all over Canada's body.

"Do I even want to know?"

Hunter shrugged. "Well I could just wing it, but you'll be easier to stitch back together if you're cut into specific pieces."

Canada rolled his eyes. "Thanks… I guess…"

After a few moments Hunter put the marker away and pressed his scalpel against the soft flesh of Canada's stomach. "You think this is Stockholm's syndrome?" He asked, a slight hit of confusion laced his words. "I mean, it seems like you tell me what you're thinking a lot more these days."

"I hope not." Muttered Canada. "Just get it over with already…"

Hunter shrugged. "As you wish." He gently ran the blade along a few dotted lines, cutting into the skin, slicing through thin layers of fatty tissue and thin membrane, until Canada was opened up like an autopsy.

Canada whimpered and closed his eyes. He hated every second of it. It would almost be bearable if it wasn't for the mirror above him. '_He'll get bored soon. He'll go do something else. Right…?_'

"Hey!" Snapped Hunter as he slapped Canada. "Keep your eyes open. Only close them if you're unconscious or dead."

Canada glared at him. "Go to hell."

Hunter laughed. "Hell rejected me. Didn't you know that?" He put the scalpel down and looked over Canada's innards with a fond smile. "It's been too long since the last time we did this."

"Not long enough."

"Oh shut up." Whined Hunter. "I still can't believe you're talking to me like this when you're so exposed and venerable!"

"That's because I just don't care anymore." Said Canada numbly. "I was coming here with the intention to kill you, but that's obviously not going to happen." He flexed his fingers a little and sighed. "Mind loosening the strap on my right wrist a little? It's way too tight."

Hunter made an annoyed noise and stabbed Canada's hand with the scalpel. "Better?"

Canada did his best to hold back his screams. "Worse! Worse! Worse! Take it out! Take it out now!"

Hunter smirked. "If I take it out of your hand I'm sticking it in your eye."

"On second thought getting stabbed in the hand isn't so bad." Choked out Canada through gritted teeth. "Yep, I'm good here."

"Glad you're good." Said Hunter. He pulled up his sleeves, reached inside Canada and started to pull out his guts while humming happily. "Just be grateful I didn't decide to cut your arms off again."

Canada gulped and just started counting in his head. Hopefully that would distract him from all the pain and horror that was happening to him. '_One… Two… Three… Four… Five… Six…_'

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

'_Nine thousand and fifty eight… Nine thousand and fifty nine… Nine thousand and sixty… Nine thousand and sixty two…_'

"Get up." Growled Hunter.

Canada blinked a few times and looked at his reflection in the mirror; he was stitched shut again and looked relatively normal again. He sighed and slowly sat up wincing in pain. "What did you do to me?"

Hunter shrugged and threw Canada's shirt at him. "The usual… Do a bit of this and that, then stitch you back up. Nothing too creepy."

Canada shook his head and pulled on his shirt. "I don't even want to know…"

Suddenly Hunter grabbed Canada's leg and forced him onto his back again. Before Canada could scream or start to fight back Hunter attacked a chain to Canada's leg. "Just so you don't try to run off." Said Hunter too sweetly. With that he turned and left, locking the door behind him.

When he was gone Canada sighed in relief. He ran his fingers over his shirt and felt the stitches. It felt odd, but he didn't mind that much. No anymore. He was just happy that Hunter hadn't linked Gilbert to him yet.

'_He's gotten sloppy._' He thought to himself. '_He doesn't care about trying to get me to bow down to him. He just wants me to learn my place…_'

He closed his eyes and sighed. Suddenly he felt his stomach start to turn in the most painful way. He quickly jumped up and ducked under the table vomiting. Thick black globs of gunk bubbled slightly in puddles of stomach acid.

Canada's eyes went wide and he began to tremble. "Crap. Not this again… I was doing so well too…" Suddenly his body was freezing and he struggled to keep his balance. He could heart the blood pumping past his ears and his vision started to blur. "Shit…" He managed to crawl away halfway back to the mattress before the darkness consumed him.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

By the time Canada woke up again the taste of congealed blood filled his mouth. He groaned and spat it out; it slid across the floor and smacked into the wall. Canada sighed and slowly sat up. "So that's what happens…"

He slowly crawled back over to his mattress and curled up. He wasn't sure how long he had been captured, a day, a week, a year, it didn't matter. All he knew was that he kept passing out and every time he woke up and Hunter wasn't there was cause to celebrate.

He smiled a little and rolled onto his back. His stitches were starting to hurt a little, but it wasn't so bad. '_Maybe he won't show up again… Maybe he'll stay far away… That'll be nice…_' As he lied there he started to think about France, America and everyone else he was never going to see again. '_Papa... I'm sorry about everything… I know you only wanted what was best for me… But hey, think about it this way, you won't have to deal with Hunter as often now. _'

That thought made him happy. If he was here Hunter wouldn't bother to attack everyone else as much, but at the same time he felt sad. Being here was a death trap. But he didn't mind that much, which worried him a lot. Still he kept smiling because even if everyone forgot about him eventually, for a moment, even if it was a short moment he could pretend that everyone knew about him.

He sighed again and stretched out his hands. In the dim light he could see that his skin was turning an unhealthy white colour and the stitches stuck out like a sore thumb.

He bit his bottom lip and frowned. '_I wonder if Gilbert's okay… I hope he's still alive… Maybe he found a way out of here. That would be nice. Maybe he's gone home. If that happened I would be so happy… Things could go back to normal… He would get his life back and never have to worry about any of this again… He can just forget…_' He sighed sadly, cleared his throat and started to sing a little;

_Please, please, forgive me  
>But I won't be home again<br>Maybe someday you'll look up  
>And barely conscious, you'll say to no one<br>"Isn't something missing?  
><em>

Singing wasn't something he did very much anymore. It seemed a little too painful these days, but it helped him forget… even if it was only for a moment.

_You won't cry for my absence, I know  
>You forgot me long ago<br>Am I that unimportant?  
>Am I so insignificant?<br>Isn't something missing?  
>Isn't someone missing me?<br>_

He put his hand on his chest and felt his chest rise and fall. He also hated how itchy his stitches were.

_Even though I'm the sacrifice  
>You won't try for me, not now<br>Though I'd die to know you love me  
>I'm all alone<br>Isn't someone missing me?_

_Please, please, forgive me  
>But I won't be home again<br>I know what you do to yourself  
>I breathe deep and cry out<br>"Isn't something missing?  
>Isn't someone missing me?"<em>

_Even though I'm the sacrifice  
>You won't try for me, not now<br>Though I'd die to know you love me  
>I'm all alone<br>Isn't someone missing me?  
><em>

He closed his eyes and sighed. A small smiled tugged at his lips.

_And if I bleed, I'll bleed  
>Knowing you don't care<br>And if I sleep just to dream of you  
>I'll wake without you there<br>Isn't something missing?  
>Isn't something<em>

_Even though I'm the sacrifice  
>You won't try for me, not now<br>Though I'd die to know you love me  
>I'm all alone<br>Isn't something missing?  
>Isn't someone missing me?<em>

He sighed and curled up onto his side. If everyone forgot about him he didn't care. He was used to being forgotten by everyone. However history would remember him, he would always remember himself as just a person who either tried too hard, or didn't try hard enough.

"Beautiful song Birdie." Chuckled Hunter.

Canada gasped and quickly sat up. "W-what are you doing back here?" He stuttered.

Hunter shrugged and threw a tube of ointment at the Canadian. "Don't get that shit in your eyes." He muttered. "It'll blind you… Some S-Plagues will be back later with water or something." He closed the door again and locked it.

Canada frowned and picked up the tube. It was some kind of soothing cream for cuts. He didn't know why Hunter kept trying to give him stuff to fix him, but then again Hunter considered him a toy. A broken toy wasn't good for anything.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Okay people, please review!


	57. Murals

**Shinigami-cat: **Hey everyone! Okay so a lot of you have been asking the same kind of questions and I thought that I'd just answer it here than individually. It'll take less time that way. Okay? Firstly… honestly this is the only question that a lot of you have been asking and it's about how long Canada's been stuck with Hunter. Personally I think he's been stuck there for a little under a week. So Gilbert hasn't gotten to him yet because nothing is ready yet. Anyway… I OWN NOTHING!

**Murals**

Gilbert nervously paced around the kitchen. Canada had been gone for five days but nothing was ready yet. Pip and Hank had found a place, but they were having trouble finding blankets and bedding. Raven had found some herbs and broken sticks to make splints but the herbs wouldn't be strong enough to do any real good and to top it all off Zero was finding it difficult to find anything he could rig to blow in a week.

"Why is this so difficult?" Growled Gilbert in frustration.

Raven sighed as she rolled out some dough. "It's okay Gilbert. We'll get him back soon."

"Not soon enough!" Snapped Gilbert. "Who knows what Hunter's done to him already? Well... besides rape…"

Raven shrugged. "Well… do you know how you're going to kill him yet?"

Gilbert stopped dead in his tracks. "Fuck. I knew I forgot something important…"

"Poison won't work!" Chirped Pip, who suddenly popped up from under the bench, scaring the heck out of Gilbert.

"Don't do that!" He snapped. "And how do you know poison won't work?"

"We've been poisoning him for years." Said Raven. She started to list the kinds of poisons with her fingers. "Lethal doses of arsenic, opioids, benzodiazepines, magnesium, anticholinergics, cyanide and isoniazid."

"Don't forget organophosphates." Said Pip.

"Those too."

Gilbert's jaw dropped in disbelief. "What the hell? Okay then… I guess I'll stab him with something…" Pip and Raven quickly glanced at each other and pulled slightly worries faces. "What? Is he immune to gunshot wounds and knifes now?" Asked Gilbert sarcastically.

"Pretty much." Said Raven. "Many people have told stories where they had watched people stab him in the heart, head and stomach and Hunter would kill them mercilessly and then pull out the sword or arrow and go back to fighting."

"I'm fucked!" Cried Gilbert. "I'm literally fucked! If I even try to do anything he'll rip off my head!"

"He's done that before." Said Pip. "Pulled some guys head clean off his shoulders."

Gilbert cringed. "Does that freak have any morals at all?"

"He has no morals." Muttered Raven darkly as she dusted flour over the dough. "You'd have to be human to have morals."

Gilbert frowned and sighed. "Yeah… How do you kill an immortal?"

Pip shrugged and took a lump of stale bread off the bench. "We could have a look at the murals… They have some pretty damn graphic pictures of Hunter killing some of the weaker nations… They are like immortals right?"

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Pip led Gilbert into a part of the castle that he had never seen before; it was a large rectangular room covered with murals depicting how great Hunter is. Propaganda. Humans and animals were seen as weak and inferior to him as he destroyed their lands and at Hunter's feet or in some cases under his foot were the dead and or dying bodies of what he assumed were countries. It was all about symbolism. According to Pip everyone was aloud there, but no one bothered too because it was too gruesome, and Gilbert had to agree.

"Do you see anything useful?" She asked.

Gilbert shook his head. "No… They are just… just propaganda. There's nothing useful here at all."

Pip shrugged and looked around the room with its high walls and ceiling. "I'm not sure if this helps or not… But before this all happened I was really into art and crime novels… These murals are kind painted like renaissance murals and if these are true renaissance murals they'll have double meanings."

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Double meanings? Right… Sure they will…"

Pip puffed her cheeks out and pouted. "It's true! For example have you ever seen that painting of Venus on the shell? There's an angel in there but it's a painting of a goddess! Not a Christian painting! Depending on your background you see different things!"

Gilbert sighed. "Fine, you're right, but I don't see anything besides dead people!"

Pip shrugged. "Well… I read in this book once that the map to a treasure was hidden in a painting. Maybe Hunter hid his weakness in a painting too?"

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "If I was Hunter I wouldn't do that… Well if I did hide my weakness in a painting I would either make it so obvious that you wouldn't even consider it or so subtle no one would see it…"

Pip shrugged and quickly glanced around the macabre works. "Well a lot of the dead people are getting eaten… and are missing limbs…"

"That won't kill him." Muttered Gilbert. "Cutting off his arm would annoy him, and I'm not eating him."

Pip pulled a disgusted face. "Eeeeeew! That's gross."

Gilbert rolled his eyes and walked into the middle of the room so he could get a good look at all the murals. In all of them he could see three things in common; Hunter, defeated humans and dead countries at Hunters feet. In some of the more grotesque murals Hunter was holding the countries heart in his hand.

The images made him feel sick. '_Sick bastard. Glorified monster. If you did this shit with a smirk on your face what are you doing to Canada now? Fuck I don't want to think about it… I'll kill him soon Canada…_'

"He really likes ripping out hearts." Muttered Gilbert, mainly to himself.

Pip nodded. "Yeah… Did you know back in the old day everyone thought that the heart was the most important organ in the body? They thought you thought with it, emotions came from it and your soul was and is still thought to be stored in it."

Gilbert shrugged and looked at the murals again when something weird caught his eye… It could have been coincidence, it could have been nothing but in every painting there seemed to be hearts. "You think the hearts the clue?"

"I don't know…" Muttered Pip as she rocked back and forth on her heels. "Not all of them have hearts… Maybe it's the lack of hearts?"

"Lack of hearts?"

"Yeah." Pip pointed to a painting that had no heart painted into it. Specifically she pointed to the country under Hunter's foot. "All the ones under Hunter's feet have a huge hole in their chest… Rip out the heart and you rip out the soul…"

"Kill something that's supposed to be immortal…" Muttered Gilbert. "Worth a shot. Now what can I use to rip out Hunter's heart without him noticing?"

Pip shrugged. "I don't know… And how do you know that will even work? You're going to die if you try to kill him."

"It doesn't matter!" Cried Gilbert. He threw his arms up in frustration and stormed around the room. "Canada's probably going through hell at the moment! Compared to him we're living in a fucking paradise!" 

"Hey don't bite off my head!" Snapped Pip. She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "Okay… so you've decided to try and pull out Hunter's heart… Three questions for you; firstly where? Second when? And finally how?"

"What is this Cluedo?" Growled Gilbert. "I don't know, okay? As far as I know it'll be Gilbert Beilschmidt, in the garden, with the gardening hoe!"

"You're the killer!" Exclaimed Pip. "And you used your charm and good looks to make Miss Scarlet lure Dr Black into the garden in the first place! Knowing that she is good friends with Mrs Peacock you knew she would have an alibi! At the same time Colonel Mustard and Professor Plumb were having tea in the parlour and Mrs White and Reverend Green were getting friendly in the kitchen!"

"What? No! Are you on drugs?" Cried Gilbert in shock.

"Not to my knowledge!"

Gilbert face palmed. '_Idiots… I'm surrounded by idiots… Why does life hate me so much?_'

Pip giggled and started to skip around the room. "Anyway… What are you going to use to carve out his heart? I'm sure Raven can lend you a kitchen knife."

Gilbert sighed. "Yeah… I guess… But I'm guessing I'll need to knock him out first…"

Suddenly Zero ran into the room with a goofy grin plastered to his face. "Not ideal, but in a week a main pipe will crack and slowly flood the place."

Gilbert grinned. "Finally some good news! Awesome job Zero!"

Zero chuckled. "Well you know what they say, Zero the hero."

Pip giggled and spun around in a circle. "We're getting Cancan back! We're getting Cancan back! We're getting Cancan back!"

"Shush!" Hissed Gilbert. "You want someone to hear you? Just make sure everything is ready for him when he's free, and don't act suspicious."

"Yes sir!" Chirped Pip. 

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Acting normal or at least not acting suspicious meant Gilbert still had to work in the garden. He hadn't gone back since Canada got taken. But he had to go back for another reason besides flying under the radar… he kind of left Twinkles there.

He sighed and walked towards some trees. "Twinkles? Hey Twinkles, are you here?" Suddenly the little ball of white light zoomed out of the trees and started to zip around his head. Despite how low he felt, he couldn't help but smile at the fairy. It was nice to know that someone was happy to see him. "Yeah sorry about running off… Some stuff happened and Canada got… He got captured by Hunter… But I'm going to get him back."

Almost as if Twinkles could sense the pain in Gilbert's voice it slowed down and just hovered near his head. '_Weird…_' Thought Gilbert. '_I haven't even known this thing for very long and I already feel comfortable enough to say almost anything to it… Almost anything…_'

Twinkles slowly started to drift in an almost uncharacteristically ghostly way down to the ground. Almost as if it wanted to talk, but it had never said a word. Maybe it was because they didn't speak the same language. Maybe it did speak but Gilbert couldn't hear it because it was so small. Maybe it just wanted to hear Gilbert talk.

Gilbert sighed and sat down next to it. "Do you want to know why Canada got taken or something? It's because Hunter is a monster and a pervert. Seriously he's been doing horrible things to Canada… I just want him back…" He could feel tears starting to build in his eyes. "Canada, he's the only thing I care about now. He's saved my life so many times since I got here… Did you know I came from a different world?"

At the mention of a different world Twinkles started to fly around Gilbert's face again.

Gilbert chuckled and wiped away his tears. "Interested about my world huh? It was nothing special… Global warming, wars, one debt crisis after another and disease… But I guess compared to here my world must sound like paradise huh?"

Twinkles bobbed up and down in a manner that was similar to nodding.

Gilbert smiled. "Yeah… But my life wasn't going so well… My boyfriend Matthew, he died a few years ago… It was all my fault too… They never found his body. My friends Francis and Antonio kept telling me that it wasn't my fault, so did my bro, Ludwig, and his boyfriend Feli and my grandpa. The only one that blamed me for it was Matthew's brother Alfred."

Twinkles bobbed up and down again, as if confirming that it understood what Gilbert was saying.

"Anyway… when he died I started cutting…" Gilbert hated the slight waver in his voice. He didn't want to get all choked up and emotional at this point. "I started because I needed a release from my pain. Cutting helped me relax. But after a while I got addicted and I tried to stop. I was going good too. Two weeks I was clean…" Gilbert bit his lip and frowned. "But then the anniversary of his death came around and it was all too much so I locked myself in the bathroom and slit my wrists."

When Twinkles heard that the fairy started to fly at full speed around Gilbert, almost like it was freaking out.

"Calm down Twinkles." Muttered Gilbert. "I obviously didn't die… So my grandpa made me go to therapy and Francis and Antonio were on constant suicide watch. After a while I was able to convince Ludwig I was okay… But the day I got home from the hospital I started cutting." He sighed sadly. "I was addicted… France and Antonio were helping me quit and I was doing okay… But like all addictions it's hard to quit cold turkey."

Twinkles calmed down slightly, but still seemed a little agitated at the news that he used to cut.

"It was around that time I met Canada… He changed my life… At first I was pissed at him because he looked just like Matthew, but after a while he grew on me." Said Gilbert with a small smile. "But just as things were looking up Alfred found out that I cut and revealed it to the whole school… I freaked out and decided to end my life but Canada saved my life twice that day… and then we ended up here."

Twinkles bobbed about again and Gilbert smiled. It was nice to have Twinkles with him. He didn't feel like he was being judged at all. It was like he was talking to an old friend.

"Thanks for listening to me Twinkles." Said Gilbert with a smile. He stood up and grabbed his shovel. "Okay then, let's just get through today and in a few, hopefully short days we can save Canada and kill Hunter."

Twinkles bobbed around excitedly and flew all around Gilbert like it was being chased by something. This made Gilbert smile.

'_I almost feel like Link with this guy around._'

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Now he has an idea about how to kill Hunter! Yay! But he has to wait a few more days before he can save Canada! Boo! But another yay for a Zelda reference! Please review.


	58. Kill Me

**Shinigami-cat: **Hey everyone! Hope you are all having a good time out there. Canada's POV this time… I OWN NOTHING!

**Kill Me**

Canada shivered when Hunter poured a bucket of cold water over him and started to scrub his skin raw. "Quit your squirming!" Snapped Hunter. "You're more trouble than you're worth sometimes."

"I can clean myself!" Hissed Canada, as he tried to pull his arm away from Hunter. "Stop it already! You're hurting me!"

"Really?" Asked Hunter sarcastically. "I had no fucking clue!" He grabbed Canada by his hair and yanked him forwards so his head was pressed against Hunters stomach. "How the fuck did you get so much blood on your back?"

"You're the retard that thought it would be funny to stab me in the kidneys." Muttered Canada spitefully. For that comment Hunter kneed Canada and shoved him to the ground.

"You're so fucking difficult!" Snapped Hunter. He threw the scrubbing brush at Canada and hit him square in the back. "Fuck this! I don't even know why I bothered!" He stormed out of the room muttering a variety of curses under his breathe.

Canada sighed and slowly pulled himself into a sitting position, ignoring the pain in his back. '_Weirdo._' He thought. '_That freak just randomly bursts in here, rips off my shirt and douses me in cold water, scrubs my sink raw and he expects me to behave? He's a loony._'

He looked over his body and frowned, despite the harsh treatment he was actually clean. "I'll never understand him…" He looked around the room and sighed again. "No towel? Seriously? There has to be something somewhere…"

Failing to find anything like that he ended up using his shirt to dry himself off. It wasn't ideal, but it was better than sitting around in a cold room waiting to air dry.

When he was dry Canada squeezed the excess water out of his shirt and put it back on. Even though it wasn't the best idea, he didn't want to be naked when Hunter next walked into the room.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

He didn't have to wait too long for Hunter to return. After he yelled at the trembling Canadian for the good part of an hour he produced a bottle of wine and attempted to force Canada to drink it. But Canada wasn't having any of this. He thrashed around a screamed as much as he could, much to Hunter's irritation.

"Just shut up and fucking drink." Growled Hunter as he finally forced the bottle into Canada's mouth. But the Canada, being the cleaver person he was stuck his tongue on the neck of the bottle, stopping the wine. "Fine." Hissed Hunter. "Two options; one, I strap you down to a table, open you up and pour this into your stomach or two you drink this of your own free will and you keep all your insides on the inside."

Canada pushed the bottle away and glared at Hunter. "You haven't given me anything to eat all day. My stomach is empty. Do you know how quickly someone gets drunk when they drink without food?"

"That's the point." Growled Hunter, pressing the bottle to Canada's lips again. "Drink." Canada was about to snap at Hunter with a harsh comment, but was quickly shut up when Hunter shoved the bottle down Canada's mouth, quickly tipping the liquid down his throat. "Besides… I thought you would have at least have some cum left in your guts you little slut."

Once the bottle was almost empty Hunter pulled it out of Canada's mouth and watched him cough some of it up and gasp for breath. "Bastard." Choked out the blond. He cried to shove his fingers down his throat in an attempt to purge it from his system, but Hunter easily stopped him from that.

"Not today Canada." He chuckled. "Today I want to hear you screaming and moaning my name, like the lusty whore you are."

"Shut up." Slurred Canada, the alcohol quickly clouded his mind. "You know something else? You're not so great… You're just a fucking demon who has way too much time on his hands. Just go to hell!"

Hunter chuckled. Perhaps watching the drunken blond rant would be a little more fun than what he had previously thought. "You should get drunk more often."

"Fuck off." Growled Canada. "You think you're so high and mighty… sitting up here, lording over everyone… But you still don't know why you can't kill me."

He took a swing at Hunter, but Hunter easily grabbed his arms. He glared at the drunk. "Shut up."

Canada just laughed. "You still don't know why you can't kill me! I can't believe it! After all the time we've spent together you still don't know anything! This is too funny!"

Hunter growled. "Okay then you little alcoholic. Why can't I kill you?"

Canada giggled. "It's a secret… You have to look in a mirror to know."

Hunter rolled his eyes. He forgot that Canada was an ass when he got drunk. "Anyway…"

"I don't feel good…" Groaned Canada. Suddenly he lurched forwards and vomited; alcohol, spunk and black gunk went all over Hunter's shirt.

"Lovely…" Muttered Hunter in mild disgust. He didn't really like what he was wearing anyway. He sighed and eased Canada onto the ground. Perhaps he gave Canada a little too much.

Canada watched Hunter wipe the vomit off his clothes with disgust etched onto his face. This made Canada smirk. '_I wish I got some of that onto his face. That would have really freaked him out._'

"The fuck is this stuff?" Growled Hunter as he tried to wipe some of the black goo off his gloved hand, but it stuck to it like glue. "Highly concentrated, whatever it is…" He hissed.

Canada chuckled. "That's Croatoa, Hunter. I picked that up a long time ago… Don't get it on your skin or you'll catch it too."

Hunter raised an eyebrow and looked at the gunk again. "Croatoa? Interesting… I've encountered this a few times a long time ago… branched off and made other deadly viruses and bacteria… I'm sure you've heard of the bubonic plague, small pox, AIDS and other such things?"

Canada groaned and rolled onto his stomach. "You're giving me a headache…"

Hunter growled and grabbed Canada by the throat and squeezed. "Shut up! Just shut the hell up! Just fucking shut up you worthless little shit!"

Canada clawed at Hunter's hands, trying desperately to pull them away. His attempts to free himself only made Hunter squeeze harder. Spots started to flicker in Canada's vision as his oxygen was cut off. Drool started to trickle down the corners of his mouth as his eyes rolled into the back of his head and everything went dark.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

When Canada opened his eyes again, he was surprised to see Hunter in the room, sitting on the table with an evil grin plastered to his face. Although he was wearing new clothes.

"It's not Croatoa." He said.

"Huh?"

Hunter chuckled and pulled a small jar with black gunk in it out of his pocket. "You know what this is?" Asked Hunter with a proud smirk on his face.

Canada shrugged. So it wasn't Croatoa. Big deal. He didn't care what the black junk in the jar was. "I don't care Hunter… Unless that'll kill you. In which case swallow it."

Hunter chuckled. "Sorry Birdie, but this won't kill me. This is actually really amazing. I just thought it was weird that you said you had Croatoa so I got some S-Plagues to take a look at it."

"I still don't care." Muttered Canada darkly.

"You will care." Said Hunter excitedly. "You see, I had some tests done to it and guess what it is? It's some mix of country and Plague DNA."

Canada raised an eyebrow. "What the hell does that mean?"

A sick grin spread across Hunter's face. "Quite simple really Canada… You see, you yourself are turning into a Plague… The personification of the New Canada, so to speak. This is just a last ditch attempt your body is trying to make to keep you how you are. Your DNA is changing and there's nothing you can do about it."

Canada rolled his eyes. "Very funny Hunter. I don't believe you for a second."

Hunter chuckled. "I thought you might say that. So I decided to run a little test on it…" He pulled a vial of purple water out of his pocket and grinned. "You remember how I was oh so elegantly trapped under that thin layer of magic all those years ago? Anyway this is water taken from that place. Only things containing a particular string of DNA, that all Plagues have, will react to it."

He poured the water over the top of the gunk and it rapidly expanded, doubling in size in a matter of seconds. The sighed disgusted Canada. "And I care why?"

Hunter rolled his eyes. "Weren't you listening? Only things that have Plague DNA in them are affected by this. Anything else is left unharmed… So prove me wrong and drink up." He held the vial in front of Matthew's face. "Drink it."

Canada rolled his eyes and quickly drank the water. "There. Nothing happened." Suddenly Matthew's stomach started to feel heavy, like it was filled with rocks. He could feel something bubbling up his throat. Without warning he lurched forwards and spewed black gunk all over the floor.

"Just as I suspected." Said Hunter with a smirk. "You are turning into the personification of a Plague… Makes sense really, your people didn't actually die… Most of them got turned into Plagues so you have to too. It's just taken a little longer because you're human DNA's fighting the Plague DNA."

Canada shook his head, his eyes wide with fear. There was no way it could be true could it? "No… You're lying! I'm not turning into a Plague! I'm not! Why are lying to me?"

"I'm not lying." Said Hunter calmly. "You don't have a say in this matter. You're going to become a Plague weather you like it or not." He chuckled and patted Canada on the head. "Look on the bright side, you're still a country."

Canada was freaking out, he couldn't breathe, he couldn't think, he couldn't move. He was terrified. "Kill me." He whispered.

"Huh?"

"KILL ME!" Screamed Canada. He grabbed the front of Hunter's shirt and gripped it tight. "KILL ME! PLEASE KILL ME! I DON'T WANT TO BE A MONSTER! PLEASE KILL ME! KILL ME! KILL ME! KILL ME! PLEASE!"

Hunter grabbed Canada's arms and slammed him against the wall, smirking venomously. "I'm not going to kill you Canada. This is a better punishment than anything I myself could have come up with for you… You're going to become what you hate, fear and loath with every fibre of your being." He chuckled and wiped away stray tear from Canada's cheek. "Don't worry Canada, it won't be that bad. Plagues will respect you. Humans will fear you. Everyone will know who you are, they won't forget… And because you are a country you'll have to follow the orders of your leader, me… But don't worry I don't plan on dying anytime soon. You'll have to serve me forever and ever and ever."

"NO!" Screamed Canada as he desperately thrashed around in Hunter's grip. "I WILL NEVER FOLLOW YOU! I'D SOONER KILL MYSELF THAN WILLINGLY SUBMIT TO YOU!"

Hunter chuckled darkly. "You will be singing a different tune soon. All Plagues are loyal to me. They might have their own thoughts and opinions every now and then, but they have to listen to my voice and do what I say… Soon you will be the same…" He whispered into Canada's ear. "A loyal dog that craves the attention of its master… And no matter how much I abuse you or hurt you, you will take it with a smile and beg for more."

"The day I do that will be the day you die." Hissed Canada. "I'll never do what you want me to. It doesn't matter if I do change into a Plague, there's nothing that you can do to me that'll make me do what you want. I'll fight back until I die."

"I hope it won't come to that." Purred Hunter. "I'm not into necrophilia... But if it's with your body I'm willing to give it a shot."

"You're sick." Spat Canada, his eyes burning with rage. "You're time will come eventually Hunter. Death doesn't like to be cheated."

"And neither does destiny." Hunter shot back. "Some events are set in stone. I believe this is one of those times."

"I'll run away again!" Cried Canada. "I'll run far away to a place where you'll never find me!"

Hunter chuckled and let Canada go. "It doesn't matter what you do. You'll turn into a Plague. You won't know what to without me when you eventually turn." The skin on his lips stretched wide into a twisted smirk. "Deny it all you like, but you're bound to me forever. Stop trying to fight and just give in. I told you that you belong to me." He ran his fingers through Matthew's matted hair. "You were always mine and you will always be mine… My beloved little Birdie."

"SHUT UP!" Screamed Canada as he pushed Hunter away. "DON'T CALL ME THAT! YOU'RE NOT HIM! YOU CAN'T CALL ME THAT!" Angry tears were pouring down his cheeks. "YOU CAN'T KEEP CALLING ME THAT!"

Hunter smirked. "Stop being so difficult. I'll call you whatever I want. The more you fear the name the more power you give it. Didn't you learn anything from Harry Potter?"

"You still don't have the right to call me that." Hissed Canada as he wrapped his arms around himself protectively. "You're not Prussia."

"Damn straight I'm not." Growled Hunter. "I'm not weak like him. If I was a country I wouldn't have disappeared into history. I would still be standing strong."

Canada glared at Hunter. "You have no right to talk about him either. If Prussia was still alive you wouldn't even be allowed to scrub his toilet."

Hunter threw his head back and laughed. "After all these years you still defend him? He abandoned you! He left you all alone in this world! He knew you were nothing without him and he still did what he did." He smirked and walked back to the door. "You're a fool Canada. Dwelling on the past will lead to nowhere. You have to live in the here and now. Prussia is dead. He'll never come back."

When he was gone Canada slid down the wall and cried. '_It doesn't matter then does it? If what Hunter said is true I'm going to turn into a monster and I can't stop it… It doesn't matter if he dies I'll still turn! Everything I've done has been for nothing._'

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Wow… dafqu just happened there? Oh well, please review!


	59. Jail Bird

**Shinigami-cat: **Hey people! Last chapter was pretty shocking huh? Also by the time the next chapter is up the winner for my cover cop for this will be announced and their cover will be used. So get you entries in damn it! It's only a few days left now, less than a week! Well it's time for the next chapter… I OWN NOTHING!

**Jail Bird**

It was early in the morning and Gilbert couldn't sleep. Zero had said that they should be able to put the plan into action soon, and he was nervous. "The plan's going to work right Twinkles?"

The fairy fluttered around a little before landing on the door handle.

Gilbert sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. A million things could go wrong. The thought that worried him the most was that Canada might be too injured to move. He didn't want to think about that. The very thought made him nauseous. '_That bastard. I'd rather kill him first then get Canada, but the sooner Canada's safe the better._'

"I need to relax a little or something…" He muttered.

Suddenly the door swung open and Pip skipped in with a grin plastered to her face. "Today's the day! I'm so excited I just couldn't sleep! Are you excited too? We're getting Cancan back! We're getting Cancan back!"

Gilbert chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah… Did you and Hank get everything ready?"

Pip nodded happily. "There's a storage place that Hank and Raven use to store empty jars and cans. We're going to put Cancan with the cans!"

Gilbert was grateful that Hank and Pip got it together. All this waiting was driving him crazy. "Sweet… But it's still dark."

Pip shrugged and pulled Gilbert to his feet. "We're having a little get together in Hanks room to run over everything. It's not like we're going to look too suspicious. I mean, most of us are up and about at this time anyway."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Zero, Raven, Hank, Pip and Gilbert were sitting around in a huddled circle as Gilbert quickly scratched an inaccurate map of the building and used a handful of stones and other objects to represent themselves. He put a screw and clay coloured rock near a badly drawn picture of a drain.

"So Zero and I will go into the water system thing and while Zero fixes the problem I'll go and rescue Canada." He moved the clay coloured rock over to the blue button in a box. "After I get him we'll be moving over to this manhole over here where Hank will be waiting with some more empty boxes to move into storage." He put the blue button next to chunk of glass. He them moved the button and the glass to a box with a badly drawn bed in it where a black rock was. "When he gets there Raven will administer any and all first aid she can." He picked up a bit of wood and grinned. "While all this is going on Pip will be running around and knocking on the pipes three times if there's danger and five times indicating that we can keep going."

"Quick question!" Called Pip. "What if I something goes wrong?"

"Then we'll wing it." Said Gilbert.

"What kind of wings?" Asked Pip. "Chicken or buffalo?"

"Buffalo wings and chicken wings are the same thing." Said Hank.

"Lies!" Cried Pip. "Secrets and lies! Buffalos have wings! They are just really small!"

"It's a good plan." Said Raven. She sighed and stood up. "Well, Pip can get me when you Hank has Canada. Until then I'm staying in the kitchen."

"Fair enough." Muttered Gilbert. "Okay so everyone knows what they're doing? Great! Let's all pray to whatever is up there that we don't fail."

"There's no way we're going to fail." Said Hank with a smile. "Not when we have such a great leader like yourself. You're like an army general, kid."

Gilbert blushed a little and rubbed the back of his neck. "Thanks I guess…"

"Yeah, Gilly's the best!" Said Pip.

"Don't celebrate yet Pip." Said Zero. He stood up and dusted off his pants. "The pipe's set to blow in a little over an hour so we all need to get ready."

Gilbert nodded. "Okay, so I'll be hanging out in the kitchen with Raven until you need me."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

A few hours later the stone walls rocked and shook violently and the sound of an explosion rattled the place. Gilbert smirked and looked over at Raven. "You think that's my cue?"

"If it isn't I'm going to start panicking." Said Raven calmly as she chopped up some meat.

Two seconds later Zero popped his head into the kitchen and grinned. "Shall we get going Gil? The S-Plagues are going crazy. Seriously I swear one of them run up a wall!"

Gilbert chuckled and quickly walked out into the hallway. "I wish I saw that."

Zero laughed and picked up his tool box. "Yeah… it was awesome."

They turned a corner and Gilbert frowned. Walking towards them was Scrap. They hadn't talked since he refused to help rescue Canada, saying it was suicide. He could understand where he was coming from in some respect but that didn't mean he approved of his choice.

Gilbert had just planned on walking right past him without saying a thing, but that obviously wasn't happening when Scrap shoulder barged into him. "Watch it bastard." Hissed the albino.

Scrap rolled his eyes. "Whatever… I think you dropped something."

Gilbert looked down and saw what looked like a lock pick. He quickly picked it up. "Huh? Scrap, why are you…?" He looked over at Scrap but he was gone. A small smile tugged at Gilbert's lips and he hid the lock pick up his sleeve. Perhaps Scrap had a change of heart?

'_Thanks Scrap. Guess you aren't that big of a dick after all._'

He smiled and walked over to Zero who was impatiently waiting for a metal head and its S-Plague to let him go into the pipes and work. "I know what I'm doing."

"Do it quickly..." Said the metal head in a monotone voice. It looked over at Gilbert. "Why do you need him?"

Zero rolled his eyes. "Well it's obvious that whatever happened probably blew something up and I'll need someone to hold stuff and pass me tools. Honestly, don't you guys know anything?" He walked over to a manhole in the floor and used a crowbar to pull it off. He dropped the tool box into the pipe and cringed slightly when it hit the ground causing the sound of water splashing and tools rattling to echo around the concrete pipe. He looked over at Gilbert and grinned. "Well come on. Let's get this over with." He jumped down into the pipe and landed with a small splash.

Gilbert chuckled and quickly followed. The water wasn't even high enough to get into his shoes. Zero passed Gilbert a flash light and started to walk down a slightly sloping pipe. The concrete pipe was probably large enough so that they could walk upright and the walls were covered in green algae. "So what did you do anyway?"

Zero chuckled. "All I did was mess with the air to water ratio in one of the larger storage tanks. That explosion was just a few bolts blowing off a small hatch and the excess gas being released. More than easy enough to fix on my own."

Gilbert grinned. Zero had to be one of the smartest guys when it came to this stuff. After a ten minute walk the came to a banged up looking metal door that had lost some bolts and a few wheels sticking out of it. Zero put down the box and started to get out some tools to fix the door.

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "You actually have to fix it?"

Zero nodded and passed Gilbert a grey piece of cloth with black markings all over it. "Yep. If I don't water will go everywhere. That's a map by the way. Just follow it from here and you'll be able to find where Canada is."

Gilbert shone the light on the cloth and grinned. "Thanks Zero. You're a good guy."

"We're all good guys here." Chuckled Zero. He picked up a hammer and gave it to Gilbert. "The great there is pretty loose, so just give it a good wack and it'll come right off."

Gilbert nodded and started off down the tunnel. "Thanks again!"

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

It seemed like he had spent hours running around in the pipes following Zero's directions. Maybe he had given him a lousy map? He hoped he hadn't. He wanted to see Canada soon. Hell, he wanted to see Canada now and protect him from Hunter. He didn't want Canada to be in pain anymore.

He sighed and scratched his head. '_Maybe I took a wrong turn somewhere… I probably should have given this a little more thought…_'

He looked around the walls and grinned when he saw a light in the distance. He slowly approached it and was happy to see it was a rusted grate, about waist height and large enough for a person to crawl through.

He crouched down and looked inside the room; stone walls, stone floor covered in blood splatter, hooks, chains and a mirror hung from the ceiling and a table sat in the middle of it all. '_Well… This looks like the right place._' He gripped the hammer tightly and slammed it against the grate sending it flying across the room and electing a shriek from the occupant of the room.

Gilbert dropped the hammer and quickly pulled himself through. "Birdie?"

"Gilbert?" Whimpered Canada.

It took Gilbert a little while to figure out where Canada was, but when he saw Canada cowering in the far corner of the room he heart broke; almost all visible places in his sickly white skin were covered in blood, bruises and cuts, his shirt was caked with dried blood and torn in a few places, he had a chunk chain on his ankle, his hair was matted, there was a gash on his forehead that blood was gushing out and his eyes were wide and fearful.

Gilbert couldn't believe what Hunter had been so brutal to the Canadian in under two weeks. He slowly approached him. "Canada…"

Canada started to tremble and attempted to back further into the corner. "Don't come any closer!" He cried. "Don't touch me! Leave me alone!"

Gilbert stopped immediately and sighed sadly. "Canada… I'm not going to hurt you. I'd never do anything to hurt you."

Canada calmed down a little but didn't he still looked freaked out. "How did you get here?"

"Zero gave me a map… Um, you're bleeding really badly…"

Canada frowned and touched his forehead, wiping a little of the blood onto his fingers. "Hunter got a little drunk and attacked me with a knife… It's not that bad. Head injuries always bleed a lot… Sorry that I freaked out. I'm still a little jumpy because of that."

Gilbert sighed and sat down. "He's an asshole, but enough about that we should get going. Gilbert leaned forwards and used the lock pick to try and open the lock on Canada's leg.

"What are you doing?" Asked Canada. His voice laced with confusion.

"Getting you out of here." Said Gilbert. "Now hold still."

Canada sighed and pulled his leg away from Gilbert. "Don't even bother. I don't want you to free me. I want to stay here."

Gilbert's jaw dropped. "What? Why the hell would you want that?"

Canada sighed sadly. "Because… If he attacks me he doesn't bother to attack anyone else."

Gilbert thought for a second, he knew what Canada was saying was probably true. Hunter's time and energy was being put into torturing Canada. Not planning attacks on everyone else. But he shrugged it off. "I don't care. You can't stay here any longer. You'll end up dying."

"I won't die." Said Canada. "I still have something I need to do before I die."

"Like what?" Growled Gilbert angrily. He didn't see what Canada had to do now that he couldn't do later when he was safe.

Canada smiled sadly, blood slowly rolling down his face. "I promised Prussia that I would kill Hunter for him, since he can't do it himself."

"Wait, what?"

Canada shook his head. "It doesn't matter. Look, just get out of here. Hunter will be back anytime now. If he finds you here he'll kill you."

"I'm not going to leave you." Said Gilbert sternly.

"But you have to." Said Canada. He looked away from Gilbert and sighed. "I can't go with you. I appreciate the effort but I'm not worth it."

Gilbert sighed and ran his fingers through Canada's hair. "Canada… I would do anything for you… I… I love you."

Canada shook his head. "I'm sorry Gilbert… It doesn't matter if I go with you… Nothing matters anymore. I just want it all to end…" He closed his eyes and leaned his head back. "My life… Everything I've done up to this point just seems meaningless now… I'm still going to die no matter what I do."

"You're not going to die." Snapped Gilbert. He was tired of Canada's negative attitude and quite frankly it was scaring him. "I'll get you out of here and I'll protect you. I won't let Hunter touch you again. If he wants you he'll have to kill me first."

Canada shook his head and pushed Gilbert away. "It doesn't matter anymore. Stay here or leave I'll go back to him in the end."

"No you won't." Said Gilbert sternly. He put his hand on Canada's shoulder, biting his lip when he saw the Canadian flinch under his touch. "I think I know how to kill him. I have to rip out his heart."

Canada's eyes went wide as he looked into Gilbert's eyes. "How did you…?"

"The bastard has a room full of murals." Said Gilbert. "I guessed that after I saw all the images of him and corpses with no hearts."

Canada rolled his eyes. "Idiot. So wrapped up on symbolism he didn't even… Just go okay? I'll be fine."

"I'm not going to leave you!" Snapped Gilbert. He cupped Canada's cheeks in his hands and forced Canada to look into his eyes. "You'll be safe. I'll protect you from him. He'll never hurt you again. I promise that when this is all over you won't have to live in fear. You won't have to be surrounded by Plagues and other monsters. I'll keep you safe."

Tears started to fill Canada's eyes. "Gil… I have to tell you something... I'm turning into a-"

Suddenly the door swung open and in the doorway stood one pissed off looking Hunter. "Well, well, well…" He growled darkly. "What do we have here?"

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Cliff hanger! Please review!


	60. It Was Your Choice

**Shinigami-cat: **Well… Here's the next chapter in Canada's POV… I OWN NOTHING!

**It Was Your Choice**

Canada's eyes went wide and he began to tremble in fear. Hunter just glared at them. He could tell that behind his eye mask his eyes were burning with rage, and when he broke into a sadistic grin Canada was absolutely terrified.

Hunter cracked his knuckles, walked into the room and closed the door, locking it. "Come here kid, I'm going to slit your fucking throat."

Gilbert growled and stood in front of Canada, facing Hunter. "Just try."

Canada started to panic. '_No! No! No! No! No! No! No! Gilbert's going to get slaughtered! There's no way Hunter will let him live! Unless… Shit… But I have to, for Gilbert._' On shaky legs he slowly stood up, ignoring the pain that ripped through his body as he did so.

Hunter growled and pulled a knife out of his pocket. "Come here you little shit."

Gilbert laughed. "Well aren't you a fair sport. At least give me a weapon!"

Hunter smirked. "Sorry kid, but I hate fair fights." He lunged at Gilbert, ready to stab him in the eyes. But Canada pushed Gilbert out of the way and ended up getting his ear sliced.

Gilbert gasped. "Canada!"

"Run!" Cried Canada. "Just run!"

Gilbert hesitated but quickly dived back into the drains. "I'll be back for you!" He called as he ran down the pipes.

Hunter was furious. "I'll fucking murder that brat!" He screamed. He ran over to the drains and attempted to climb into them to peruse the albino.

Canada, unsure of what to do, grabbed onto Hunter's leg and held on tight. "Get the fuck off my leg you brat!" Snapped Hunter as he tried to shake Canada off his leg.

Canada whimpered as he was violently jerked around, but he wouldn't let go. If anything he held on tighter. "Please don't hurt him!" He cried. "Please Hunter! Please!"

Hunter frowned and looked down at Canada's beat up and bloodied face. A cruel smirk twisted his face. "Why?" He hissed. "Why should I let him go? He broke in here and attempted to get you out. I should kill him… He should be turned into food to feed my Plagues…"

Canada's eyes went wide with horror, his mouth agape. "W-what? No… Please I'll… I'll stop fighting!"

Now it was Hunter's turn to be shocked. "Pardon?"

Canada looked away, trembling slightly. "I-I'll give up trying to stop you from d-doing what you want to me."

Hunter grinned evilly. "Who would have thought it? I've done every possible torture to break you, when all I needed to do was threaten your little slut."

"He's not a slut." Growled Canada.

Hunter chuckled and crouched down and tilted Canada's face so that they were facing each other. "Defending him till the end huh? So protective."

"There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do to protect him." Said Canada.

Hunter smiled and nodded. "I can respect that. You should feel honoured, not many people get my respect."

"You're still not going to treat me like a human are you?" Snarled Canada.

Hunter laughed lightly, gently rubbed his thumb over Canada's chin. "I treat humans like dogs. They have their place, and that place in under my foot. I'll treat you better than a human but less than a Plague. But your treatment can change depending on how you act."

"Let me guess…" Hissed Canada. "If I act like a good little country and do everything you say my life gets better?"

Hunter flashed a toothy grin. "Yep."

"But you can't kill Gilbert." Said Canada quickly. "And your Plagues can't touch him."

Hunter rolled his eyes. "Fine, but if you piss me off I'll kill him slowly and painfully right in front of you… He will go to the grave cursing your name."

Canada gulped and nodded. "I understand…"

Hunter grinned. "Good. Get back on the mattress. On your hands and knees."

Canada nodded and slowly walked over to the mattress. He got down onto his hands and knees and started to tremble. He knew what was going to happen. It was inevitable, but it didn't make him feel any better. He heard Hunter kneel down behind him and heard the rustle of clothes.

Hunter leaned forwards and chuckled darkly into Canada's ear. "Remember, you chose this."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Canada collapsed onto the mattress completely exhausted. He had lost count of how many times Hunter had emptied himself inside him after ten. '_In retrospect this was probably not the best choice in the world…_' He suddenly felt Hunter's arms wrap around his waist and lift him up. Canada started to panic. '_Again? But I can't even feel my legs anymore! I can't go again!_'

Instead of being forced onto his back or onto his knees Hunter just put him onto his lap and held him. "See how much easier it is when you just submit?" Canada just frowned and looked away. Hunter rolled his eyes and started to stroke the Canadian's hair. "Don't be that way. You made that choice, not me."

"Enjoy it while you can." Growled Canada darkly. "Just because I promised to stop fighting back doesn't mean I'm not going to kill you."

Hunter sighed. "Yet you don't. You had the prime opportunity to kill me when we first met, but you hesitated."

"I won't make the same mistake again." Snapped Canada.

Hunter laughed and kissed Canada's head. "You're such a joker. You'll never ever kill me and I'll never kill you. I'm curious to see what you would look like as a Plague."

Canada growled and shifted uncomfortably in Hunter's arms. He could live for a million years and never even think about what he would look like as one of those monsters. A creature that didn't think for itself and only followed Hunter's orders, never questioning them. No matter how crazy or farfetched. It sickened him.

Hunter hummed happily, gently stroking the Canadian's hair. "Maybe some cute little bat wings? A tail? Perhaps some scales and horns? Now that would be interesting… Maybe you'll get an exoskeleton like the S-Plagues? I doubt you'll be all muscle bound like the B-Plagues…Or lengthy like the G-Plagues… I'm guessing you'll be more random like the W-Plagues… That'll be cool."

Canada rolled his eyes and looked away. '_I don't care. Just leave me alone… This weird caring side is freaking me out._'

Hunter chuckled and gently stroked Canada's cheek in an affectionate manner. "Don't be like that." He cooed. "You made this choice. It's always been your choice… You chose to let me live. You chose to run away from your responsibility. You chose to run away from me… Now it's time for you to pay."

Canada snorted. '_Haven't I suffered enough already? No of course not… I'll never suffer enough for what I've done… I pretty much destroyed the whole world._'

Hunter tilted Canada's head up and smirked, studying his face. "Now what was that for?"

Canada spat in his face. "Go to hell."

Hunter didn't even flinch. He just laughed and kissed Canada's forehead, coating his lips in a little blood. "Don't be like that. I'm trying to be nice, or at least tolerable."

Canada growled. "I hate you. You only look out for yourself. You never do anything unless it benefits you."

Hunter shrugged. "I guess… But isn't that how the worlds always worked? No one ever does anything unless they believe it'll be beneficial to them." He chuckled a little to himself. "Money is lent, alliances are agreed upon and of course deals are made. One never really knows if both parties will benefit in a symbiotic relationship or if one will gain the upper hand and turns it into a parasitic one. As a county you should know this already."

Canada sighed and shook his head. "Not everything was like that."

Hunter laughed. "Oh really? Take all you countries and your charity. Help the starving children in Africa and all those other places. Help another country out of a political crisis and maybe a war… When they are back on their feet you can remind them of that fact and exploit them. Sometimes they will even feel compelled to help out the countries that helped them when needed to. During the First World War Australia jumped at the opportunity to serve queen and country… To fight for the mother land… That's all ridiculous if you ask me."

"That's because you have no humanity." Muttered Canada darkly. He hated Hunter to the core, but couldn't be bothered to pull himself out of his arms. He couldn't decide if that was because he was dead tired or because he had little to no feeling in his legs.

"I know." Hunter said with a smirk. "Who needs humanity, morals or that bullshit ethics? Get rid of those and your free to do anything you want." A dreamy smile spread over his face. "That's how it feels to be a Plague… It is freedom. Pure, simple freedom."

Canada scoffed. "Freedom? They have to follow your orders!"

Hunter shrugged. "Well, let's face it… The truth of humanity is that no one is free. Being free means you can do whatever you want when you want. Taking drugs, killing, torture, rape and other such things are all restricted and restrained by laws. People still do them and get punished by the law, which deemed it unfit for those activities to take place."

"But those laws are put in place to keep people safe you psycho!" Snapped Canada.

Hunter chuckled. "True… But at the same time there are restrictions on the world… Get to work on time, get to school on time, dress in a socially acceptable manner and talk in a proper way and all that jazz. Humans are stupid."

"Demons have rituals and rules too." Reminded Canada.

Hunter shrugged. "Well that's more like if you do certain things you'll get killed and you do X, Y and Z to stop that from happening."

Canada sighed. There was no reasoning with him. He could say whatever he wanted. He would just have to tune it out and let it wash over him. Hopefully Hunter would be done talking and leave him alone soon. He closed his eyes and leaned against Hunter's chest. '_Damn I'm sleepy…_'

Hunter frowned when Canada did that. "Tired?"

"What do you think?" Asked the sleepy Canadian.

Hunter chuckled and ran his fingers through Canada's blond hair. "Then sleep. I'm not going to stop you." Despite his better judgement Canada fell asleep in Hunters arms.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Canada rolled onto his side and buried his face into the soft, warm quilt covers and sighed contently. It felt so good to just relax in that safe warmth. '_This is so good… I can't remember the last time I slept in something like this… Wait a second!_'

Canada quickly sat up and looked around; he was sitting on a kings sized canopy bed, wrapped in furs, there was a walk in wardrobe directly across from the bed, a dresser in one corner next to a small stained glass window and there was a heavy metal door over the other side.

Canada gulped. '_What the hell happened?_' The sound of the door being unlocked made Canada jump and hide under the covers, hopefully he could pretend to be asleep. '_What happened? Come on brain think! That's why I have you! Let's see; Gilbert tried to rescue me, Hunter tried to kill Gilbert, I made a deal with Hunter, he raped me again, we talked for a bit, I fell asleep and… I'm fucked!_'

He could hear the door slowly creek open and the sound of boots gently hitting the stone floor, and he felt the mattress dip slightly as someone sat next to him. He had a pretty good idea about who it was. After all it could only be one person. Hunter.

His suspicions were confirmed when he felt the covers being pulled back slightly and his gloved fingers ran through his hair. "I know you're awake." Said Hunter. "But I don't care that you want to play dead."

"Why am I here?" Whispered Canada.

Hunter chuckled. "Did you prefer that other room? I just wanted to reward you because you stopped fighting." He brushed some of the hair out of Canada's eyes and rolled him onto his back. "Besides it's obvious that Gilbert could come back whenever he wanted so this place seemed like a better option."

Canada frowned. "Where am I?"

Hunter raised an eyebrow. "Obviously you're still in my castle."

"Obviously." Growled Canada.

"Watch your attitude kid." Snapped Hunter. "I could just as easily put you back in that room and brick up that hole Gilbert made."

"Just because I said I would stop fighting you doesn't mean I'm going to change my attitude!"

Hunter made a noise of annoyance. "Okay I get it! You're pissed! I would be too if I was in your situation!"

"DON'T EVEN TRY!" Screamed Canada. He sat up and pushed Hunter off the bed. "I LOST EVERYTHING BECAUSE OF YOU! MY LIFE! MY PEOPLE! MY FAMILY! PRUSSIA! ALL OF THEM ARE GONE BECAUSE OF YOU! YOU CAN'T EVEN LOOK ME IN THE FACE ANYMORE! YOU WEAR THAT MASK AND HIDE AWAY FROM EVERYONE! YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE IN MY SITUATION!"

Hunter growled and quickly jumped back onto the bed, pinning Canada under him. "Shut the fuck up. I was trying to be nice. I honestly don't give a damn about how you feel as long as you do just what I tell you to do." He smirked. "But then again you'll be a Plague soon and you'll have to do what I say."

"If I become a Plague I'll kill myself." Growled Canada. "I'll rip out my own heart, but failing that I'll run away and find one of the other countries and beg them to kill me. I'll never be a monster."

Hunter laughed. "Again with this whole killing thing? I've never understood that about you lot. Always willing to kill yourselves if everything gets too hard. Always ready to die if it means everyone else will live. I could understand that if it was a mother or father sacrificing themselves for their family or even the terminally ill that are in constant pain and can never get better… But you're just going to change into something better."

"Better?" Hissed Canada. "Better? I'll never become a monster! I'm not a monster! Just freaking kill me already!"

"I'm not going to kill you." Said Hunter. "How many times do I have to tell you that?"

Canada glared at Hunter. "Fine. If you won't then I will." He kicked Hunter in the stomach and quickly ran over to the dresser. He grabbed it and pushed it to the ground, sending chunks of wood and broken glass everywhere. He picked up a particularly large, sharp bit of wood and pressed it against his chest.

Hunter growled. "So you're really going to try and kill yourself? Go ahead and stab yourself. You won't die unless you actually pull your heart out."

"I know… But it can't hurt trying." Muttered Canada. He took a deep breath and plunged it deep into his chest. He fell to his knees and gasped in pain as blood filled his lungs and flowed out his mouth.

Hunter just sat there on the bed and sighed. "That dresser was from France… Now you've gone and smashed it up and gotten blood all over it… This wasn't one of your best choices kid."

Canada muttered something but it only came out as a garbled mess because of the blood. He slowly rolled over to his side and coughed up even more blood. '_Go to hell._' He thought. '_I freaking hate you so much… I just want it all to end…_'

Hunter sighed, got off the bed, picked up the bleeding Canadian and put him back on the bed, not caring if the furs became matted with blood. He grabbed the end of the wood that was sticking out of his chest and pulled it out with ease. He threw the wood across to the other side of the room and ran a finger around the edge of the gaping wound.

"It's not that bad… I can see some of your organs slowly starting heal even as I speak." He muttered. He dipped his fingers into the wound and pulled out a thick stream of black gunk, smiling. "I guess if your emotions get out of hand your body makes more of this stuff."

Canada whimpered and let a few tears slip from the corners of his eyes. '_Why? Why does this keep happening to me? Why can't I just die?_'

"Don't cry." Cooed Hunter in an almost soothing manner as he wiped away Canada's tears. "Just relax and fall asleep again. I'll get some of my S-Plagues to come in soon and do the usual patch up job." He leaned forwards and gently kissed Canada's lips before getting up and leaving.

When he was gone Canada started sobbing. He was in too much pain to move and lost too much blood to think straight. "P… Prussia…" He spluttered. "I… I'm sorry…"

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: ***does a little happy dance* I'm really happy the way this chapter turned out! But man, Hunter has some issues he needs to sort out! Please review!


	61. Hanging Tree

**Shinigami-cat: **Here's the next chapter from Gilbert's POV. The lyrics used are SCAVA by Hollywood Undead… I OWN NOTHING!

**Hanging Tree**

Gilbert sat miserably in Hank's room. The plan had been a complete failure. Not only did Canada refuse to get rescued, but Hunter decided to drop in and ruin everything. If he had just a little more time he might have been able to convince Canada to leave with him.

Pip sighed and patted Gilbert's shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. "It's okay Gilly… We'll get Cancan back eventually."

"No we won't." Muttered Gilbert.

"Yes we will." Said Pip sternly. "We'll get him back and then we can kill Hunter!"

"You don't get it." Growled Gilbert. "He didn't want to get rescued. He wanted to stay there… He said that if he was there Hunter wouldn't hurt anyone else. He made his choice." He stood up and walked out of the room. "How could he sacrifice himself like that?"

As he walked back to his room everything just seemed so much heavier now. Maybe he was guilty that he couldn't save him or maybe he just couldn't get over the fact that Canada didn't want to be saved. It hurt. It hurt a lot.

"Hey Gilbert!" Called Raven as she ran over to him. "What happened? Zero said that Hunter caught you."

"He did." Muttered Gilbert. "He caught me but Canada helped me escape…"

Raven frowned and tilted Gilbert's head up slightly so they were face to face. "Gilbert… It wasn't your fault… Please don't have that look in your eyes. It's scaring me."

"What look?" Asked Gilbert numbly.

Raven bit her lip and looked over at some of the H-farm people. "Like that. Like you've given up. You have to keep fighting for what you want."

Gilbert shrugged and looked away. "I don't have anything anymore… Raven all my life I've lost people who were close to me… My mum, my dad, my step mum, my boyfriend, my family and friends… Canada was the only thing in this world that I could care for and I couldn't save him… Maybe living like one of those people from the H-farm isn't such a bad way to live…"

Raven gasped in shock. "Gilbert!"

"Just leave me alone." He muttered as he walked past her. "It's not your problem." Everything just felt numb but hurt at the same time. It was all too much. He needed release and he needed it now.

He shook his head. '_No! I'm not going back to cutting! Not after all this!_'

Suddenly he was lifted into the air by a G-Plague. "HOLY SHIT! WHAT THE FUCK? PUT ME DOWN NOW!" The G-Plague just grunted and started to walk off with the screaming albino.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

After a few minutes they came to a large metal door, decorated in all kinds of death symbols. The G-Plague simply opened the door and threw the albino inside, slamming the door shut behind him.

Gilbert landed with a thump on the grey stone floor. He hissed in pain and sat up having a quick look around the room; high dome ceiling, black marble pillars, a small set of steps that lead to a grotesque throne where Hunter sat drinking what he hoped was wine from a skull shaped goblet.

"Those G-Plagues…" Muttered Hunter. "They have no… for the lack of a better word I'll say class. But at least they get the job done."

"You." Growled Gilbert. "I'll fucking kill you."

Hunter sighed dramatically. "Is it too much to ask to go one day without someone threatening to kill me?"

"What did you do to Canada?" Yelled Gilbert.

Hunter took a sip of his drink and smirked. "That's actually why I asked you here… okay so I got a G-Plague to bring you here, but you get the point." He quickly swallowed the remainder of his drink and tossed the goblet onto the floor, shattering it. "You see, I just thought I'd make the situation clear to you, because I'd hate for you to get the wrong idea."

Gilbert glared at Hunter. '_Something's not right here…_'

Hunter got out of his throne and casually walked over to Gilbert, his smirk never leaving his face. "To put it simply Canada made a deal with me… In exchange for your survival he has promised to stop fighting me."

Gilbert's jaw dropped. "What? He wouldn't! You're lying!"

Hunter shook his head. "Nope, this is all true. I just wanted you to understand the terms and conditions of this deal so you don't get any funny ideas." He grabbed Gilbert by the front of his shirt and glared at him. "As long as Canada behaves you'll live. I can't kill you and my Plagues won't touch you… And when you get too old to work and get sick I'll have the S-Plagues put you on life support. I've always wondered how long I could keep a human alive!"

Gilbert growled and struggled to get out of Hunter's grip. "Canada would never do that! It doesn't matter if you say you're going to kill me, he wouldn't do something so stupid!"

"You obviously don't know Canada very well then." Hissed Hunter. His smirk suddenly became sadistic. "And if I remember correctly Canada just said neither I nor my Plagues can kill you… He never said anything about beating you to a pulp!"

Gilbert's eyes went wide with fear and he gulped. '_So this is how I'm going to die huh? He could just tell Canada I got killed in an accident or something!_'

Hunter chuckled. "Fear… The only thing you see in someone's eyes right before they die…" He punched Gilbert in the face and dropped him. "Go on get the hell out of here." He growled.

Gilbert clutched his bloodied nose and stumbled out of the room. He still couldn't believe what Hunter had said to him. There was no way Canada would do something so stupid. There had to be an explanation for it. But the only one he could come up with was Canada's selfless nature. If he could save someone he would. It was his downfall.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Gilbert frowned as he raked up the leaves in Hunter's garden. He just felt so empty inside. Everything he cared for was gone and his life was resting on a knifes edge. Not even Twinkles erratic flying could cheer him up. "Sorry Twinkles…" He muttered. "But it's just not the same…"

Twinkles slowly drifted down to the ground and seemed to sigh in a depressed manner.

"I'm sorry I'm like this." Said Gilbert. He crouched down in front of the fairy and smiled slightly. "I'm sure things will get better soon… But it's really hard…" Tears started to swell in his eyes. He tried to blink them back but it wasn't working. "I'll be fine right? I always end up on top right? I'm awesome! I'll get through this just like I always do! I'm Gilbert Beilschmidt for crying out loud!"

He couldn't take the pain in his chest anymore. He curled up on the ground and cried. These weren't like the angry or frustrated tears he used cry, these were tears of pure sorrow. He had only ever cried those tears four times before; when he visited his mother's grave when he had found out where she was buried, when his father died, when his step mother died and when Matthew disappeared. Now he could add losing Canada to his ever growing list.

Eventually he ran out of tears and was just left with uneasy breathing. '_I hate this… I can't do anything right. I just want it all to end… Wait a second. There's that rope swing and those hedge trimmers are still in the wheel barrow…_'

He quickly stood up, abandoning the rake, and walked over to wheel barrow, grabbing the hedge trimmers. He smiled a little and started to walk over to where he knew the swing was. He chuckled darkly and cut away the seat leaving two ropes. Abandoning the hedge trimmers he climber up the tree and pulled up one of the ropes and started to make a noose.

Gilbert started laughing as tears started to pour down his face again. '_I can't take it anymore! I'm never going home. I'll never see my bro or my friends again. On the plus side I'll see Matthew. He's been waiting too long for me to join him on the other side._' He smirked a little. He couldn't help but be reminded of a song he used to listen to a lot back home. Now seemed as appropriate as any time to sing a little.

_When the end is getting closer  
>And the earth has burned the sky<br>Now repent cause' it's all over  
>Just let me die<em>

_Here's the massacre  
>Mausoleum. Fit for me<br>Lived a hundred years  
>A hundred years I didn't see<br>Gave all my hope away  
>Isn't any left for me<br>Bombs are splittin' atoms  
>What can the future bring?<br>We can fill a million choirs  
>And wait 'till children sing<br>We can walk a million miles  
>And end up in the sea<br>And our lungs just keep filling  
>And lying when we breathe<br>The worlds filled with liars  
>Liars like me!<br>And I look at my child  
>Its fine like this feeling<br>As blue like the sky  
>I see all of this meaning<br>I reach up to god and I ask if I'm dreaming  
>So sorry I don't have those things that you need<br>And, darling a kiss  
>Kiss me on these lips<br>_

Twinkles started to zip around his head in a panicked manner. Like it knew what Gilbert was planning. Gilbert just smiled at the fairy and gently batted it away. No fairy was going to stop him from doing this.

_When the end is getting closer  
>And the earth has burned the sky<br>Now repent cause' it's all over  
>Just let me die<br>As my body lies here broken  
>And I'm carried to the light<br>Now my heart is finally open  
>Just let me die!<br>_

He didn't care that his suicidal side had come back. Honestly it almost felt comforting to have it back. Now if he had his razor blades he would be in his own perfect world. Being able to bleed out his pain in slow bursts when it all got too much was a nice feeling.

But in this world he wouldn't be able to find a clean blade so rather than getting an infection suicide seemed like a saner option.

_Everybody says, "Greetings and goodbyes"  
>Everybody pays, no one knows the price<br>We know the price of sin  
>The sin of sacrifice<br>I know I'll sin again  
>Cut who can save me twice?<br>How much can we ask?  
>You'll get the answer first<br>How much can we kneel with the air that chills the Earth?  
>The air keeps getting colder<br>My knees keep hitting dirt  
>The innocent can cry without the guilty getting hurt<br>You ask who you love, and you don't know, no, do you?  
>The spirit of god just passes right through you<br>You gave away heaven  
>Handed right to you<br>And I can see it all  
>Tell me is it true<br>Kiss me my darling  
>Darling I need you<br>_

He looked over the noose he had made and grinned. It was tied perfectly and would be more than strong enough to hold him. From this height if he jumped he wouldn't snap his neck. Instead he would have to wait to be choked to death. He smiled a little. Perhaps it would be like the time he drowned.

_Where do we go?  
>We go oh, lord I don't know<br>Where we go  
>We go no!<br>I don't know!  
>Where do we go!<br>We go oh, lord I don't know  
>Where we go<br>We go no!  
>Lord I don't know!<br>_

He put the noose around his neck and tightened it slightly so it sat snuggly around his neck. Tears were still falling down his face.

_When the end is getting closer  
>And the earth has burned the sky<br>Now repent cause' it's all over  
>Just let me die<br>As my body lies here broken  
>And I'm carried to the light<br>Now my heart is finally open  
>Just let me die!<em>

He sighed and had one last look around. He couldn't help but smile to himself. He felt mildly happy to die in such a beautiful looking place and maybe if Canada found out he was dead he would start fighting back again and kill Hunter.

"Well… Goodbye unnaturally cruel world." He muttered. "Please let Canada be safe…"

He leaned forwards slightly and jumped. That split second of weightlessness was amazing and just felt like forever but reality quickly snapped back just as harshly as the rope around his neck. He let out a strangled cry as he felt the noose tighten unbearably around his neck.

He let out a chocked cry as his airways were completely smothered. It was painful. It hurt so much. The rough rope was cutting into his skin and making him bleed a little. Spots started to scatter in his vision as his senses started to dull. It made him a little dizzy and gave him a small rush of adrenalin, but it quickly faded.

The next thing he knew he had hit the ground and was gulping down air like it was water, and there was someone next to him rubbing small circles onto his back.

Once he had caught his breath he slowly turned his head to see Canada. '_No… Not Canada…_' Gilbert reminded himself. '_Canada's copy. I don't even know what to call it… How did it get me down anyway?_'

"Please don't do that again." Muttered the doppelganger.

Gilbert growled and grabbed it by the throat. "How the hell did you find me?" He hissed, slowly increasing the pressure around the copies neck. "And how the hell did you get me down?"

Said copy stared back at Gilbert with wide fearful eyes. "I heard you singing and this random ball of light showed up and made me follow it!" He said quickly. "You were choking so I used those big scissor things to cut you down before you died! Please don't hurt me!"

Gilbert just glared at the copy. A million thoughts were racing through his head. '_Kill it! It's Hunter's toy! But he looks like Canada and Matthew! You can't kill someone with his face! It's not even real! It stopped you from ending it all! It stopped you from finding peace! You're not a monster! You can't kill it! But it will tell Hunter about this if you let it live! Kill it! Kill it now! You can't hurt him! He's done nothing to you! If you kill him you're no better than Hunter! You'll become a monster!_'

Slowly Gilbert released his grip on the doppelgangers neck. "Fine." He hissed darkly. "You saved my life. But it's not like I owe you anything. Why don't you go find Hunter or something?"

The copy frowned and looked down. "I haven't seen Hunter in about a week… He doesn't see me anymore…"

Gilbert frowned and raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

The copy nodded. "Yeah… He's always seen me every day. There hasn't been one day when he hasn't come, unless he's told me before hand." He suddenly looked up at Gilbert with panicked eyes. "Has something happened to him?"

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Nothing's happened to him. He's just found a new toy to play with. He doesn't need you anymore."

The copy frowned and tilted its head in confusion. "Huh? I don't understand what you're saying."

Gilbert face palmed. He really didn't want to deal with this kid at the moment. He just frustrated him beyond all belief. "Okay whoever you are I'll try explaining it in terms you'll understand… Hunter is evil. He tortured and killed millions of people. Outside this stupid garden everything is destroyed. Hunter only has you here because you look like my friend Canada. Now that he has Canada he doesn't need you anymore. You'll probably die now."

The copy just looked at him with wide, confused eyes. "Why are you being so mean to Hunter?"

Something in Gilbert's mind snapped. He grabbed the copy by the front of his shirt and shook him violently. "ARE YOU STUPID?" He screamed. "WHAT PART OF '_HE'S EVIL_' DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND! HE'S A PSYCHO, A RAPIST AND A MURDERER! BECAUSE OF HIM MY FRIEND IS GOING THROUGH HELL!"

The copy started trembling and crying in Gilbert's arms. "Is that why you were trying to kill yourself?" It squeaked.

Gilbert glared into the copy's dull purple eyes. "What?" He hissed.

The copy gulped. "I mean… you're going through a lot right now and you shouldn't want to kill yourself because of those problems." It babbled. "They are pretty bad, I mean really bad, but there has to be a better way to solve them, eh?"

Gilbert growled and pushed the copy away. "Whatever…"

The copy fell back slightly and smiled a little. "So… what's your name?"

"Gilbert." Muttered the albino. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"What's your name?"

"Name?"

"Yes."

"No…"

"No?"

"Yes."

"Wait what?"

"Huh?"

"Okay time out!" Said Gilbert. He took a deep breath and started again. "What is your name?"

The copy shrugged. "I don't have a name."

"Seriously?" Asked Gilbert. He was sure that Hunter would have given him a name.

The copy nodded. "Yeah, but Hunter does call me kid sometimes… Birdie has come up a few times too…"

"Okay then…" Muttered Gilbert. This copy seemed willing to talk, maybe he could get some interesting information from it. "So how long have you been here? Living in this garden I mean."

The copy shrugged. "All my life… so about four years, give or take."

Gilbert was shocked. "Four years? And in those four years did it ever occur to you that there was something wrong with Hunter?"

The copy shook its head. "Nope. Not once."

"Well aren't you a genius." Deadpanned Gilbert. Suddenly Twinkles started dancing around his head. He sighed and stood up. "Well… it's getting late. I should probably go now."

"Will you be back tomorrow?" Asked the copy with hopeful eyes.

Gilbert looked down at the copy and frowned. '_He acts just like a little kid… But he's too trusting. He doesn't understand anything…_'

"Will you?" Asked the copy again.

Gilbert sighed. "Sure kid…"

The copy smiled warmly. "Okay! See you later Gilbert! I'll be waiting!"

Gilbert shook his head and walked away with Twinkles close behind. When they were out of ear shot, Gilbert glared at Twinkles. "You shouldn't have gotten him to save me. I thought fairies had powers and stuff? Couldn't you have just gotten me down if you were so worried?"

The fairy just bobbed about for a bit as its answer. Gilbert rolled his eyes. Maybe he should start thinking of a new plan to save Canada, hopefully one that starts off with Hunter being dead first.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: ***falls over and dies* Holy hell that was long… I swear when I'm on a roll I just can't stop typing. Anyway some people have been wondering how many chapters there are going to be. All I can say is hopefully under 80. But definitely not over 100. I mean seriously, I cannot keep this going for a hundred chapters. That's just like… wow… Please review.


	62. Venom in Our Veins

**Shinigami-cat: **Here's the next chapter. But first of all I'm going to congratulate Yea-Im-Piggeh for winning my cover competition. If you want to see it in full view, which I highly suggest you do, it's in my favourites on my Deviantart account under Cover contest. Also sorry this chapter took a little longer than I expected. I've been sick… This time it's from Hunter's POV just to make things interesting… I OWN NOTHING!

**Venom in Our Veins**

Hunter sighed as he ran his fingers over his scar. He didn't know why he was touching it more often now, but he had a feeling it had to do with Canada's harsh words about him hiding behind a mask. It wasn't like he wanted to wear the mask all the time, he just hated people looking at his scar.

"Why the hell do I even care?" He growled darkly. "His opinion isn't that important… He's just a body. Something warm I can rest on and keep myself warm… So why can't I get it through my thick skull?" He slammed his head against table. "Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid!" Eventually he slammed his head against the table so hard it cracked. "… Ouch."

He sighed and sat up in his chair, pulling the splinters out of his forehead. "Need to get more stable furniture… Maybe something made from stone or bullet proof glass? Screw it I want a table made from titanium." He put his eye mask back on and stood up from the dining table; remainders of his food still sat there but he didn't care, S-Plagues would eat it or throw it away. It was just tasteless slop to him anyway.

He walked out the doors and headed to Canada's room. He was staying in one of the room on the east side of the island. When he got there he slowly opened the door and had a look inside. What he saw made him sigh in frustration; everything in the room was broken, ripped and torn to shreds.

"What are you?" He growled. "A cat on crack?"

He looked under the broken bed frame and frowned. If Canada wasn't in their he was hiding in the wardrobe. He walked over to the wardrobe and swung the door open. He got a shoe in the face for his trouble.

"GO AWAY!" Screamed Canada.

Hunter rubbed the side of his face and growled. "What the hell? Get out here right now you little brat!" The second shoe hit him in the groin. Hunter cringed in pain and slammed the door shut. "He's worse than a kid with ADHD that made its way into the sugar…" After a few deep breaths he pulled open the door again and quickly tackled Canada to the ground before he could hit him with anymore footwear.

Canada screamed and thrashed around. "GET OFF ME!"

"Calm your tits!" Hissed Hunter as he struggled to pick up the blond. Once he had gotten the Canadian in his arms he walked back out of the wardrobe and threw Canada onto the bed, accidentally shattering the rest of the bed frame.

Canada quickly scrambled to his feet and growled. "Stay the hell away from me you creep."

Hunter clenched his fists and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. "I'd hate to sound like you mum or anything but what the fuck did you do to your room?"

Canada smirked. "I redecorated. You never said I couldn't."

"What the hell is with this attitude?" Snapped Hunter. "Are you on drugs? Did those stupid S-Plagues put stuff in your food or something?"

"What would you care?" Hissed Canada darkly. "You just use me as a sex doll and something to abuse when you had nothing better to do! What proof do I have that you'll change the way you act towards me just because I said I wouldn't fight back anymore!"

"Have you been struck once since you got here?" Snapped Hunter in anger. "Have I once lashed out at you or made you do one thing since you were put in this room?" He kicked some splintered wood at the Canadian. "I don't know why I even fucking bother to do this stuff for you! You ruin everything!"

"I ruin everything?" Yelled Canada. "All I ever wanted was a nice, quiet, normal life! But you just had to come into my life and ruin everything! I hate you!"

"So we hate each other than!" Snapped Hunter.

"That's fine by me!"

"Good!"

"Good!"

"… Are we just going to keep arguing all day?" Asked Hunter.

"Well we sure as hell aren't doing anything else you sick freak!" Snapped Canada.

Hunter growled in frustration. "We sound like an old married couple!"

"Correction; you sound like a psycho!" Yelled Canada.

"Hey! Don't make me come over there!"

Canada growled and threw another shoe at Hunter, hitting him square in the nose. "Fuck off!"

"What the hell?" Growled Hunter as he rubbed his now bloodied nose. "How many shoes do you have?"

"A lot." Hissed Canada as he threw yet another shoe at Hunter, hitting him in the knee cap.

Hunter hissed in pain and hopped around a bit. "You little ungrateful shit! I've done so much for you and you just throw stuff at me for no good reason!"

Canada scoffed. "Are you kidding me? I have a million reasons to throw shoes at you!"

"… Good point." He ducked when a lump of wood got thrown at his head. "What are you? An emo teenager? How is this behaving like you promised?"

Canada growled and threw another some more wood and Hunter. "JUST GET OUT!" He screamed. "JUST GET OUT!"

Hunter growled and slammed Canada against the wall. "WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM? I'M SERIOUSLY THINKING SOMEONE PUT DRUGS IN YOUR FOOD! YOU'RE FORGETTING YOUR PLACE AGAIN BOY!"

Canada hissed and desperately tried to wriggle out of Hunter's grip. A flash of something dark danced in his violet eyes. "I'LL KILL YOU!" He screamed. "I'LL RIP OUT YOUR HEART AND EAT IT!"

Hunter had had enough of this. He grabbed Canada's neck and squeezed until the blond went limp in his hands. When he was unconscious Hunter sighed and slowly lowered him back onto the mattress. He sighed and ran his fingers along Canada's soft blond hair. Dark purple bruises were already staring to form on his neck.

He smiled and gently stroked the bruise. "So pretty…" He murmured. "Purple and red are good colours for you… They bring out the paleness of your skin and your golden hair… But most importantly they bring out your eyes."

He frowned and shook that thought from his head. There was something off with Canada. He was more than a hundred precent sure that the S-Plagues had put a drug in his food. There was no way Canada would act so oddly when he knew that anything he did could potentially mean Gilbert's death.

He looked back down at the Canadian's neck. '_Well… I guess there's always one way I could check if he's got drugs in his system._' He pulled Canada into his lap and tilted his head to the side, giving him a good view of his bruises. He leaned forwards so that his lips were brushing against his neck. He opened his mouth and bit into his flesh. He bit in deep enough to break the skin, but not so deep that Canada would bleed to death.

He smiled a little as he let the only flavour he could taste dance across hit tongue. After living for so long and only being able to taste blood he had come to learn that not all blood tasted the same. Diet was a big taste difference; high fat diets made blood taste greasy and odd, vegetarian's had higher vitamins in their blood and had a slightly fruity taste most of the time and people that ate a lot of meat had more iron in their blood. But blood varied greatly from person to person. He especially hated blood with blood diseases in it. It made it taste dirty and bitter. But since he wasn't human, those diseases didn't infect him at all.

Canada's blood tasted metallic and a little sweet. "Must be from all the maple syrup he eats." Muttered Hunter. But he could taste something weird in his blood. It wasn't something like drugs, it tasted familiar. It was odd but he kind of liked it. "What is this?" He muttered. He licked the wound and let the blood linger on his tongue for a little longer.

Now that he knew what taste for he was looking for it was easier to taste. It cut through the rest of the flavour like a knife. It was driving him crazy. He knew what it was, but he couldn't place it at all. '_So familiar… What is it? What is it? I know I've had something similar to this… but it's very odd… I'll figure it out later._'

He lowered Canada back onto the mattress and sighed. To him Canada did look very pretty. The way the light reflected off his hair, his creamy white skin, even the bruises made him look beautiful in Hunter's eyes.

He frowned and shook his head, chuckling lightly. '_Damn it… Why am I always thinking about that kind of stuff when he's around?_' He sighed and stood up, glancing around the dishevelled room again. '_I guess I should have someone fix this place up…_'

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Later that day Hunter was sitting in his throne room drinking some blood from a goblet. When he got bored he just lazes around drinking blood. It was a nasty addiction, but like all addictions it was hard to stop once you got going.

After a while he muttered some words under his breath and waved his hand over the goblet. The blood bubbled slightly and slowly started to rise out of the goblet. He smiled and put the goblet on the ground so his full concentration could be on manipulating the blood hovering above his hands.

The slightest turn of the wrist, the slightest movement of any finger changed the shape entirely. He could however, if he wanted too, simply think of a form he would want the blood to take and in an instant the blood would take that shape. Weapons like knifes were the easiest to make, along with things like hammers and axes. But things like guns and arrows he hated. The trouble with weapons like those was you always had to get ammo for it. Also he liked watching the life leave his victim's eyes when they died. You couldn't do that if you were far away. Plus he liked having a weapon he knew would pretty much always work all the time.

Hunter sighed and made the blood into that shape of a fancy start, spikes sticking out everywhere, each one was razor sharp. He sighed a little and changed its shape to something that looked more natural, something that had more curves.

He ended up making a small bird and made it flap its small wings. "Cute…" He muttered before mentally slapping himself. "Cute? What the hell is wrong with me?" In an instant he changed the bird back into a ball of razor sharp spikes.

He hated using the word cute, yet these days he seemed to be doing it more fluidly. It sickened him. '_Why the hell does this keep happening? One second I'm fine and the next I'm acting all weird… Fuck this it's all because of Canada. Why the hell do I fucking care so much about him? I freaking hate him! Well… part of me hates him… This is so frustrating! It just makes me want to scream!_'

He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice the S-Plague that scuttled into the room. "Excuse me Lord Hunter…"

Hunter jumped in surprise, effectively making the ball of razor sharp spikes explode, sending thousands of needle spikes into everything in the room. Killing the S-Plague instantly and stunning Hunter. "Ouch… That… Hurt… A lot…"

He sighed and shook his head, the spikes liquefied once more and everything went back to relative normality. He didn't care about the fact that he was bleeding heavily, they were small puncture wounds, easy enough to heal in less than thirty seconds.

Hunter sighed again as he looked at the bloodied mess on the floor. The S-Plague was mutilated… Innards streaked the floor and its cracked exoskeleton dusted the floor. "Shit… What the hell? Stupid thing shouldn't have been in here… Fuck what did it want?"

He stood up and walked out of the throne room, ignoring the awkward glances from people. He huffed and buried his hands into his pockets, his fingers immediately wrapping around something. He pulled it out of his pocket and frowned. '_That bloody necklace._' Hunter thought with disgust. '_Prussia's bloody, god damn necklace… Damn it! Why do I fucking care so fucking much about this?_'

He looked over at a random person walking down the hall. "Hey you!" He snapped.

The person jumped in shock and gulped. "Yes Hunter?"

Hunter thrust the necklace into the guy's chest. "Throw this away. Set it on fire. Do whatever you want to this. Just get it the hell out of my sight."

The guy frowned and looked at the necklace. "Are you sure? It's a little bloodied but I can clean it and buff it. Make it look as good as new."

"Did I say I wanted it back?" Growled Hunter darkly. "What is your name kid?"

The guy gulped. "Scrap."

"Well, Scrap." Spat Hunter. "I never want to see that necklace again. If I ever see it again I will personally murder you. Understand?"

Scrap nodded quickly. "Yes Hunter. Sorry Hunter. "I'll get rid of this right now. You'll never see it again." He ran down the hallway as fast as he could.

Hunter chuckled. "Run boy. Run, run, run." He smirked and kept walking. Hopefully he would find another S-Plague that would tell him what was going on. After looking around for a bit he finally found an S-Plague scuttling along a wall. "Hey you, an S-Plague was trying to talk to me before and some stuff happened so it ended up getting killed… Have any idea what it wanted?"

The S-Plague ambled down the wall until it was head height with Hunter. "I believe that more tests have been conducted on that Plague DNA gunk, and the results are ready for you to see."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

After a while Hunter was leaning against a wall in one of the S-Plagues research labs. They weren't giving him any new information, they just kept saying the same thing over and over again. It was boring and annoying. Hunter nodded and muttered a few words every now and then. Nothing more than a 'yes' or an 'I see'.

The S-Plagues chatted away at their usual rapid pace about how amazing it was. How it could infect millions of people in a matter of seconds if they could make a powdered version of it. "We could get all the countries!"

"I don't give a damn." Whined Hunter irritably. "I couldn't care less if America, England, Germany, Italy or Romano turned into Plagues! I have what I want."

"We understand that." Chirped an S-Plague. "But you must understand that this could be the final turning point! The little push we need to win this war! All we need to do is conduct some experiments on Canada and-"

"No." Growled Hunter darkly. "You will not touch him at all… Which reminds me; he destroyed his room earlier today and attacked me with some shoes. Have any of you been drugging his food?" The S-Plagues shook their heads. Hunter scowled. He wasn't sure if they were telling the truth or were trying to save their own skins. "If I find out you're lying I'm turning every one of you in here to mush. Understand?" They all nodded and chatted, clicked and hissed their understanding. "Good."

"I think I might know what's wrong with him." Said an S-Plague.

Hunter raised an eyebrow. "Really? Explain it to me than."

It nodded and scuttled over to two cages containing mice. It put them on a bench and gestured Hunter to come and have a look. Hunter complied and went to look at the mice; the ones in the first cage were running around and sniffing like normal mice, the ones in the second cage had the same number of mice. But these mice kept jumping around and biting each other.

"The ones in the first cage are the control group have been fed normal food pellets and the ones in the second cage have been fed pellets laced with a small sample of that DNA gunk."

Hunter frowned. "So the ones with the Plague DNA act all crazy?"

The S-Plague nodded. "Yes. But only for a few hours. After that they become extremely docile and relaxed. After which you get this…" It grabbed a third cage and put it in front of Hunter. The mice in it were missing patches of fur, scaly tails, bony limbs and elongated teeth that pierced through their lips and gums.

"So they eventually turned into Plagues…" Muttered Hunter, a smirk starting to form on his face. "So that's what's happening… How long did it take for them to turn into Plagues?"

"A few weeks after they became aggressive." Said the S-Plague.

Hunter smiled. "Awesome. That's all I needed to know."

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **And there! I'm going to go and curl up for a few days because I still feel like shit… Please review!


	63. Questionable Voices

**Shinigami-cat: **Hi everyone I feel way better now! I'm no longer sick. Yay! Also a while ago I decided to see how many letters of the alphabet I've used to start my stories… I've used every letter except for X and Z… I OWN NOTHING!

**Questionable Voices**

Gilbert screamed as he was crash tackled to the ground by an overly enthusiastic Canada clone that he had dubbed Copy. "What the hell is wrong with you?" He snapped. "I almost impaled myself on a tree branch!"

The copy just giggled as he made himself comfortable on Gilbert's back. "You're funny." Twinkles seemed to find it funny too because it was randomly bobbing up and down like a fool.

Gilbert growled. "You are not helping things buddy."

The copy giggled and tried to reach out and grab Twinkles, but when it was almost in his grasp it zipped away and made the copy fall forwards. This caused Gilbert to face plant and quite literally eat dirt. "Darn, I missed it."

Gilbert turned his head to the side and spat out a chunk of grass and dirt. "Are you trying to kill me?"

"Eh? Oh, sorry Gilbert!" The copy quickly jumped off Gilbert and helped him to his feet. "I didn't mean to! Honest!"

Gilbert sighed and rubbed some of the dirt from his mouth. "Yeah I know… You're way to energetic today."

The copy just smiled happily. "I wanted to show you something today. But only if you have time. I know you have to keep going back out there…"

Gilbert frowned. He found it oddly disturbing that this copy had never stepped foot outside the garden. In a way it was almost sweet that Hunter wanted to preserve the innocence of it when he had ripped that away from the rest of the world. It hurt. It hurt a lot.

"Don't you ever want to leave here?" He asked.

The copy shrugged. "Why would I? It's always nice and warm here, the forests are amazing, there's always food here and it's just so pretty!"

"I guess…" Muttered Gilbert. "But haven't you ever wondered what's out there? Haven't you ever wanted to go outside and see the world for yourself?"

The copy thought for a second. "Well… I've wanted too… But Hunter said that it's really dangerous out there and something bad could happen if I leave, so I just stay here."

"You don't have to listen to him anymore." Said Gilbert sternly. "He abandoned you! He doesn't see you anymore! Don't you feel even a little angry at him?"

"How can I be angry at him?" Asked the copy. "Hunter has looked after me all my life. He's always looked after me and made sure I was safe."

Gilbert shook his head. His innocence and obliviousness knew no bounds, but it was driving him mental. He didn't want to treat the copy with kid gloves, he wanted to try and drive the point home that Hunter was dangerous. Obviously that was never going to work with this kid.

"Whatever…" He picked up a tree branch and threw it into the wheel barrow. "I'm pretty much done for the day, so what did you want to show me?"

The copy grinned and grabbed Gilbert's hand. "Let's go!"

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

The copy lead Gilbert down a path away from the floral part of the garden and into the forest part. Gilbert had never really been into that part of the garden. Mainly because there wasn't much that needed to be done in there. It was a forest, all that needed to be done was clearing the paths every now and then of fallen branches.

But the forest was quite beautiful and enchanting. There had always been something mysterious and magical about the forest that the albino just loved. The forest commanded respect with its large trees and thick foliage.

"This place is pretty awesome." Said Gilbert.

The copy grinned. "I know. I love coming here… It's just so pretty." After a while the copy wandered off the path and over to a cave. "Come one Gilbert!" It called. "In here!"

Gilbert chuckled a little at his enthusiasm and followed in into the cave. He turned to Twinkles and smirked. "You going to lend a little light?"

Twinkles bobbed around in the air for a bit before it zipped into the cave, immediately illuminating it. The copy just giggled. "We don't need that. We have the glow worms and the florescent fungus." He pointed to the dim lights on the roof and the weird green veins running through the walls. "They are more than enough to light the way."

Gilbert shrugged. "Okay, fine. Twinkles dim the lights." Twinkles flew out of the cave and landed on a tree branch, almost like it was in protest of dulling its light. Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Fine stay out there! We'll be back soon."

The copy giggled again and grabbed Gilbert's hand. "Come on. I want to show you this before you go."

Gilbert sighed and reluctantly followed the copy deep into the cave. But the copy was right about one thing; the glow worms and the florescent fungus was more than enough to light the way. They walked down into a large flat area where the glow worms filled the cave ceiling like stars and the fungus ran down the walls, resembling vines. Off to one side was a huge pool of water that had some blue glowing algae in it. It was beautiful.

"Awesome…"

The copy nodded. "Yeah, I found this place the other day…" He smiled sadly. "I wanted to show Hunter but, you know…"

"Well he doesn't know what he's missing out on." Said Gilbert.

The copy smiled. "Yeah… Oh that's right! This isn't what I wanted to show you!" He quickly ran over to the water's edge and jumped, but he didn't go under. Instead he just stood there waving, like he was walking on water. "There's a path right under the water! It doesn't even look like it's here unless you're standing right on top of it!"

Gilbert walked over to the water and looked over to where the copy was. He could just see a slightly darker stone under the boy's feet. "That's pretty awesome."

The copy grinned and jumped started to take a few big steps. "I know right? But the path is made of stones so you have to take big steps to get to the next one." When the copy was standing in the middle of the pond it turned to face Gilbert and smiled widely. "Come on Gilbert! I'm not going to wait all day!"

Gilbert sighed and cautiously jumped onto the first stone that they copy had jumped on. From where he was standing he could clearly see the other stones. He jumped from one to the other until he got to the stone where the copy was standing.

"What now?"

The copy smiled and pointed up. "Look."

Gilbert looked up and was amazed at what he saw; the ceiling in this particular spot was covered in multi-coloured florescent fungus. They made intricate patterns as fine or as elaborate as any cathedral. "Wow… this is… This is…"

"Awesome?" Offered the copy. "Yeah, I know. It's very pretty. I love it so much… When I come here everything just seems to make sense, you know?"

"Sort of." Muttered Gilbert. Still admiring the natural beauty of the place.

The copy sighed a little. "Hey Gilbert? Do you like me?"

Gilbert nodded. "Yeah, you're not nearly as insane as a lot of people I know."

"Then could you stay here with me?"

That question caught Gilbert completely off guard. He kind of liked the copy but that was the problem. He was just a copy. He wasn't real at all. Just something Hunter conjured up because he was lonely. "Hey, I like you but-"

"You don't want to stay with me…" Muttered the copy miserably. "I understand… No one wants to stay with me because I'm useless. I can't do anything right. The only thing I'm good for is to rot alone in the darkness."

Gilbert frowned and put his hands on the copy's shoulders. "Wait a second here kid! What's with all this darkness? I did not expect that from you of all people. You're way to happy for those thoughts to even enter your mind."

The copy chuckled weakly and looked down at the water. "Yeah, I know it's weird but when I'm lonely I get really scared… My chest starts to hurt really badly and I keep thinking that no one remembers me. I hate that feeling… But when Hunter is around that feeling is gone for a while and I feel really happy. I feel that same feeling when I'm with you… So please don't go."

Gilbert sighed and patted the copy's head. '_So you're just lonely? I can understand that… But I can't stay with you… I have to help Canada._'

"… You're still going to go aren't you?"

"I have to." Said Gilbert. "I have to help a friend."

"But I saved your life!" Snapped the copy. "You owe me! I don't want you to leave! You can't leave! I won't let you!"

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "You won't let me leave? No offence kid, but you're not that strong and I have to leave. If I don't something bad will happen to me like… death. Mutilation. Butchered. Turned into Plague food! I kind of like being alive."

"But I like having you here!" Whined the copy.

"You don't even know me!" Snapped Gilbert. "All you know is that I tried to kill myself!"

"But I feel comfortable around you!" Cried the copy, tears were starting to fill its dull violet eyes. "You make me feel safe and I feel sad when you're not around… You remind me of Hunter."

Gilbert felt sick when he heard that. Scratch that, he vomited a little in his mouth. There was no way he could have reminded the copy of Hunter. He was nothing like him. "Don't you even think about comparing me to him again." He hissed. "I'm nothing like him."

The copy quickly turned and started to make its way back to dry land. "Fine." It muttered miserably. "Do whatever you want I don't care."

Gilbert sighed and walked over to the copy, slipping slightly on the stones. "It's not like I hate you or anything, I just have some stuff I need to do… Look you probably wouldn't understand but my friend is in deep trouble. I'm afraid something really bad is going to happen to him."

"Then why don't you help him?" Snapped the copy.

"I'm trying to help him." Growled Gilbert darkly. "But the only way I can do that is if I kill Hunter."

The copy gasped in shock. It looked absolutely terrified. "You can't kill Hunter! You can't!"

"If I don't Canada's going to die!" Snapped Gilbert. "The most important person in the world to me is going to die a horrible death because I couldn't save them! Do you know how it feels to lose someone you care so much about? Have you ever wanted to kill yourself because it hurts too much to live knowing the horrible mistakes you've made? Only to-"

"Question yourself." Said the copy in a small voice. "Question yourself and ask how you could have done things differently. But then you realize that none of it was in your control. There was nothing you could do and you hate yourself for it because there's no one else to blame."

Gilbert stopped dead in his tracks. He didn't expect that answer from the copy. That response seemed too mature and deep for something that was supposed to have the intelligence of a five year old. "What are you talking about?"

The copy either didn't hear him or chose to ignore him. He looked into Gilbert's red eyes with his own dull, washed out ones. "But then you decide it isn't your fault and there are other forces more powerful than you could possibly imagine. You turn to religion for the answer… You reach up to God and scream at him, asking how such a tragedy could have befallen someone so close to you. You beg for your life to end and no matter how many times you try to kill yourself you're still alive. You question if you're being kept alive as punishment or if you're already dead and have gone to hell and this is the torture for your sins."

Gilbert gulped, suddenly feeling uneasy around the copy. "I… I don't understand what you're saying."

The copy rubbed the back of its head nervously and smiled a little. "Sorry about that, eh. I don't know what came over me. I don't even know what half the stuff I said meant. Oh, a moth!" The copy giggled and started to chase the moth around the cave.

Gilbert sighed and shook his head. '_What the hell? This kid is insane but I don't have time to think about that. I need to think of a way to get Canada the fuck away from Hunter. Also I need to kill that fucker if that's ever going to happen and another thing I-_' Gilbert screamed in shock when the copy tackled him to the ground again.

"I caught the moth!" It cheered happily.

Gilbert groaned and hit his head against the rock floor. "Good for you…"

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Gilbert sat in his room scratching plans into the walls with a bit of rock. Nothing he had come up with seemed to be logical or possible. He didn't even know where Canada was being kept anymore. Thoughts about what the copy had said to him kept invading his mind.

He sighed sadly. "That copy… I think there's something really wrong with it. What do you think Twinkles?"

Twinkles bobbed around in the air for a bit in its whimsical way. It made Gilbert smile a little.

"Yeah I guess you're right. I'm just being paranoid." He frowned a little and started to draw up another rescue plan. "Do you have any ideas Twinkles? I'm running on empty at the moment."

Twinkles landed on the floor and tilted slightly to the side in an I have no clue kind of fashion.

Gilbert sighed sadly. "Yeah… I get it. You don't know either." He growled and punched the wall. "I hate this! I hate feeling so powerless! This is stupid! I fucking hate this so fucking much! Canada's done nothing to deserve this! He's completely innocent!" He could feel something starting to claw at the back of his mind. It made his blood boil with pure hatred.

'_Hunter… Everything is that bastards fault. He deserves to die. I'll rip him to shreds… No. Killing him quickly would be too merciful. I'll torture him to death. I'll make him beg for it all to end._' Suddenly Twinkles was fluttering in his face, blinding him slightly.

He sighed and batted it out of his face. All the anger he felt seemed to melt away in the presence of that ball of light. "I'm sorry." He muttered. "I'm just really worried about Canada. I have to save him… I have to."

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Okay that was really weird… Please review!


	64. Old Wounds, New Scars

**Shinigami-cat: **Hey everyone! Here's the next chapter… I OWN NOTHING!

**Old Wounds, New Scars**

Canada's mind was swimming, the past few hours were a blur, or were they days? He couldn't tell anymore. All he wanted to do was sleep with something warm pressed against his skin. Which was what he was trying to do at the moment, but Hunter's constant petting was keeping him awake. Yet he didn't really mind the older man doing that while he was using the man's lap as a pillow.

"You're a lot calmer today." Noted Hunter happily.

Canada sighed and shifted slightly. '_I don't like this._' He thought. '_Since when am I so… So calm around him? It's weird… Maybe he's been slipping me drugs or something._'

Hunter smiled and brushed some of the hair out of Canada's eyes. "Are you hungry? Thirsty? I can get you anything you want. Anything you want I'll give to you."

"I want you to die." Whispered Canada.

Hunter frowned. "I meant food or drink wise. I'm sure as hell not going to kill myself to satisfy you."

"Then I don't want anything from you." Said Canada.

Hunter sighed and ran his fingers through Canada's hair again. "You really are troublesome, you know that right?" He frowned and poked the Canadian's cheek. "What's the matter? Don't feel like yourself today or something?"

Canada glared at Hunter the best he could, while feeling tired. "I don't know why I'm acting like this." He muttered. "But I know you had something to do with it… and I don't like it at all."

"I haven't done anything." Said Hunter. "It's just… Apparently it's one of the last stages before you turn into a Plague. There's no point in hiding it."

Canada frowned and sat up, yawning slightly. Hunter had replaced all the furniture in his room ever since he destroyed it all. "I see…" He moved to the other side of the mattress and lied down, curling up as he did so.

He heard Hunter sigh and felt the mattress dip as he moved closer to him. "What's wrong Canada?"

"I don't want to be a monster." He mumbled. "I want to stay how I am now… I don't want to change into… Into a freak like you. I don't want to be a monster."

"Oh your words wound me so." Said Hunter sarcastically. "I'm not a monster… I've never liked the term monster… The dictionary describes a monster as something abnormal, unnatural. When in fact monsters are natural, many of them are made from nature itself."

"So what are you then?" Growled Canada darkly.

Hunter chuckled and gently caressed Canada's face. "I thought you knew already. I'm a demon. Simple as that."

"How are demons born?" Asked Canada curiously.

Hunter shrugged. "There are a few ways; born normally like a baby or a chicken, born from magic which is similar to summoning a spirit and then there's this other way which is hard to describe." He sighed a little, thinking of the best way to explain. "You see… sometimes emotions can become very strong, and occasionally those emotions can become so strong they manifest into a being that's fuelled by those emotions."

"Is that what you are?" Asked Canada.

Hunter chuckled. "Yeah, I'm simply a build-up of human emotions and desires… Wrath, greed, pride, envy and lust. Just to name a few of my core emotions. I'm pretty sure sloth and gluttony are in there somewhere but I just don't care."

"The seven deadly sins…" Mused Canada. "How typical."

Hunter shrugged. "I guess… But I'm mainly made from the first four emotions with a hint of the others and a dash of a whole bunch of others." He chuckled. "When you think about it I guess you could say humans created me."

Canada shrugged. "Whatever."

"Okay seriously what's wrong?" Asked Hunter, there seemed to be genuine concern in his voice but it was hard to tell.

"I want to go home."

"This is your home now." Said Hunter sternly. "Stop complaining."

Canada sighed and curled in tighter on himself. '_I hate you. I hate you so much._' He shivered a little when Hunter started to gently touch him again.

Hunter chuckled when Canada shuddered. "You really hate me don't you?"

"Yes."

"You know there's no real reason to hate me." Muttered Hunter.

Canada rolled his eyes. "You remember you raped me right?"

"Don't care."

"You're an asshole."

"I still don't care what you think of me." Said Hunter. "You'll change your mind when you turn into a Plague."

Turning into a Plague. It seemed like Canada would have to except that fate now. There wasn't any hope for him to change back. All the countries had been working on cures for years as soon as they figured out that the Plagues were people. Nothing could be done. Research was carried out and all that they could find was that the DNA was practically butchered and stitched back together like Frankenstein's monster, but it was a million times worse. Nothing could be done.

Canada remembered back to the beginning, when the Plagues first appeared. He remembered seeing terrified men, women and children running for their lives and W-Plagues hunted them down and ripped into them. The ones that lived screamed in agony as Plagues burst out of their skins in a horrific display of blood and gore. They shed off their human skins like a lizard does. Just seeing it had scared him senseless, but what really got to him was the constant screaming. Even after the skins were shed they would still scream in agony, like they were burning. Would the same thing happen to him? He didn't want to die like that.

More importantly would he even remember anything when he changed? Would all his old memories stay with him or would they be wiped out? Was that why Hunter was so happy he was turning a Plague? So many thoughts buzzed around his head in an almost painful way.

'_Why did this have to happen?_' He thought pitifully. '_All I wanted was a nice quiet life with Prussia… I'm sorry Prussia, I'm too weak to kill him. I want to but I can't._'

Hunter sighed and pushed Canada onto his back, leaning over him with a fake smile plastered to his face. "Talk to me Birdie. Say something."

"I hate it when you call me that." Growled Canada. "Only Pr-"

"Only Prussia can call you that." Muttered Hunter darkly. "I know. You'll never shut up about him will you?" He clutched the sheets tightly in his hands. "You know what? Prussia was never that wonderful. If he did the things he had done in the past today he would have been put away for murder."

"It's not like you can talk." Hissed Canada. "I don't even know what to classify what you did as… Homicide, genocide, psychotic, insane… there are many options. What Prussia did in his past was his past. I don't care about that stuff. All that mattered to me was that he loved me and I loved him."

Hunter laughed, a sick and twisted smirk made its way onto his face. "Seriously? You were just lonely. You would have fallen for anyone that payed more than five minutes of attention to you. You can't lie to a demon. We see through the lies of humans and pick out the truth."

That stung to hear that. Canada had truly loved Prussia. He was willing to do anything for him. He would have died for him. He would have died with him. He didn't care about the consequences. He would have thrown away being a nation if Prussia had wanted him too. Hunter had no right to say anything about him.

Hunter chuckled and kissed Canada's forehead. "What's the matter? Did I say something you didn't like? Are you still thinking about that damn albino ex-nation?" One of his hands started to trail under the Canadian's shirt, lightly touching his skin. "If your mind is plagued with thoughts of him, I'll gladly do something to take your mind off it."

Canada sighed and closed his eyes. "Do as you wish." He muttered. "Nothing I've said before has stopped you, why should it start now?"

Hunter shrugged and started to pull Canada's shirt off. "As you wish."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

When Hunter was done with him Canada was left alone in his room. He had long since passed feeling violated or dirty from what Hunter did to him. He just felt hollow and numb during and after it. In a way he almost felt like a prostitute, almost being the key word.

He slowly sat up and winced slightly in pain. '_It doesn't hurt as badly as the other times._' He thought bitterly. Perhaps Hunter was going gentler on him, but he quickly pushed that thought to the side. There was no way Hunter would be easing up on him. '_Shit, maybe I'm just getting used to it now._'

He sighed and flopped back down onto the bed. He was tired but couldn't really bring himself to go to sleep. After several failed attempts to get to sleep he slowly stood up and walked to his wardrobe to get a new set of clothes. He picked out a red hoodie and a pair of blue jeans. He was amazed that Hunter even bothered to give him clothes like this.

He quickly put them on and walked over to his window. There was a small hinged window in the corner of the stained glass window that was small enough for him to stick his head out of, but too small for him to actually crawl out of.

He opened the window and looked sighed contently as a cool breeze hit his face. It was nice, but a small hint of something dirty, like diesel, was in the air. He closed the window and walked back to the bed. There wasn't much to do in the room. All he could do was sit around and wait for Hunter to come back.

He felt trapped, like an animal in a cage. It was scary to think like that. Like he was a prisoner, but there was no way around it. He was an animal. He was trapped. But worst of all he was going to die. He was going to die very soon and be born again, so to speak, as a Plague.

Canada was scared. He didn't want to die. No human wanted to die. In fact, the human body wasn't designed to die easily. It would fight back, kicking and screaming until it couldn't anymore. He was amazed his own body had put up such a fight for so long.

He lied down on his stomach and buried his face into a pillow. He could smell the musky stench of sex emanating from every part of the fabric, but he honestly couldn't care less.

"I'm going to die." He muttered sadly. "There's nothing I can do about it… I'm going to die…" He gripped the bed sheets tightly in his hands and growled. "What the hell am I on about? Sure I'm going to die, but I'm not going to take it lying down. If I die, I'm going to take Hunter with me!"

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Sorry this chapter's shorter than the others… Please review!


	65. Keys, Bread and Daggers

**Shinigami-cat: **What is this? Over 900 reviews? How the hell did this happen? All of you out there that have stuck with me this whole time are amazing! Awesome! Stupendous! Supercalifragilisticexpialid ocious! Yeah… That's right… I used a Marry Poppins reference. But seriously you guys are amazing and I love you all! You are all amazing and wonderful and I could write a whole chapter about how amazing you all are but you don't want to hear that do you? Just imagine how ecstatic I'll be if I get 1000 reviews… I OWN NOTHING!

**Keys, Bread and Daggers**

Gilbert sighed as he let his mushy oat laced water fall off his spoon and back into the bowl. "Do you have anything that has flavour?"

Raven rolled her eyes. "Eat you water and oats."

Gilbert sighed again and looked over at Pip who had abandoned using her spoon and just drank it down like water. When she was done she wiped her mouth with her sleeve and grinned. "Watery. Needs a little more salt…"

Raven glared at Pip. "You too? Why don't you two take my job and start cooking?" 

"We're good." Said Pip and Gilbert in unison.

Raven sighed and started to pull out lumps of dough out of a large pot and put it into flour covered deep pans. "Kids these days… No respect for the older generation… Not like there are any old people around anyway!" She muttered more curses to herself in her native tongue as she worked.

Pip chuckled and looked over at Gilbert. "So… Still trying to kill Hunter?"

Gilbert nodded and ate a spoonful of his oats. "Yep. But I need to know where Canada is."

"East wing, third floor, tenth door on the right when you walk up the steps." Said Raven calmly. "I assume that's where Canada's being kept… Well that's at least where he's making me bring food. It's the only door made from cast iron and has the biggest lock on it."

Gilbert nodded and frowned. "I see… But I lost the lock pic in the pipes after I dived into them."

"Hunter has keys." Said Pip happily. "He carries them around on his belt. Big iron key for the big iron door."

"Makes sense…" Muttered Gilbert. "So… I'll need a knife to kill him and… yeah…"

Raven sighed. "I'm not baking any knives into bread for you. The S-Plagues check to see if all the knives are here every day. They've been on high alert since you tried to rescue Canada."

Gilbert sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Then could you give me a shin bone? I'll try and whittle it into a spear or something."

"I'll try." Said Raven. "But that'll take forever." He put a tray of bread into the oven and sighed. "Do you think Canada can survive that long?"

Gilbert bit his lip and gulped. Canada was a mess when he had tried to rescue him. Anything could have happened after that. He was deathly afraid that Hunter might have done something horrible to Canada, even worse than what he's already done. Canada had such dead eyes when he saw him. It was heart breaking.

"He's strong…" Muttered Gilbert. "But I need to get him out now. I can take on any of the Plagues that come my way. They aren't that tough."

"And how exactly are you going to kill Hunter?" Asked Raven. "He isn't a Plague, heck he's the daddy Plague. The boss Plague."

Gilbert shrugged. "I'll need something to get his heart out… But I'll need something to subdue him first…"

"Use a frying pan." Said Pip with a grin. "They hurt like hell."

Gilbert nodded in agreement. "Yeah… Maybe I can replace the real Canada with that copy…"

Raven and Pip shared a look of confusion. "What copy?" Asked Pip.

Gilbert put down his bowl of water and oats. "Well you see Hunter made a copy of Canada. He's really innocent and stuff… He thinks the world of Hunter and acts like he's the most amazing person in the world, but the guy is really… He's sweet for the most part, but he's too ignorant. Hunter keeps him in the garden."

Raven frowned. "So the last guy didn't go crazy… There really was someone in there."

Pip scratched her chin, as if she was in deep thought. "But if this copy is so innocent how long will it take for Hunter to figure it's the wrong Canada?"

Gilbert shrugged. "Who cares? He just needs to be there for a few minutes before I kill Hunter."

Raven sighed. "Yeah… I guess so… But I feel sorry for that little guy. If he's grown up with Hunter as his only point of contact… I don't even want to think about how mutilated he is."

"Actually Hunter's treated him quite well." Said Gilbert. "The kid doesn't even look like he's got a scratch on him." Both Pip and Raven looked like they were frozen in shock. Gilbert nodded. "Yeah, freaky huh?"

"It's a little more than freaky if you ask me." Muttered Raven.

"But don't you think it's a little sweet?" Asked Pip. "Hunter has a soft spot." Raven and glared at Pip, making her gulp. "Or maybe not…"

"He's a monster, Pip." Said Gilbert. "He's a monster and I'm going to kill him. I just need to get something to knock him out and something to dig out his heart."

"Good luck with that." Said Raven. "You'll need it."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Gilbert sighed as he sat by the pond in the garden. He could see the copy walking around on the other side, carrying what looked like apples in his arms. '_I wonder how I could get him to come with me? It'll be hard considering Hunter's told him to wait for him in here. There has to be something I can do._'

The copy sat down next to Gilbert and offered him an apple. "Hungry?"

Gilbert shrugged and took an apple. "So… You've never wondered what's outside the garden?"

The copy shook its head. "No. Bad things are out there."

"But don't you want to see Hunter again?" Asked Gilbert.

The copy nodded. "Well yeah… But he told me to stay here so I will."

Gilbert shrugged and took a bite out of his apple. Perhaps he could persuade him to leave somehow. He knew that the copy really liked Hunter and wanted to keep seeing him. A few words carefully chosen words here and there should be more than enough to convince the copy to come with him. "It's not that bad out there… I mean fine."

The copy fidgeted nervously. "Well… But there are diseases and other horrible things."

"No one lives forever." Said Gilbert. He knew that fact all too well. "Besides you have just as much chance of getting killed in here as out there." That was a lie. "There are pretty much no boundaries out there. You could walk in a straight line forever and only have to stop when you got to the sea."

"What's the sea?" Asked the copy curiously.

Gilbert chuckled. "It's like the pond but it's so wide that most of the time you can't see land if you look directly out to sea. It's also so deep that the water can turn black." He frowned a little. "You could drop something into the sea and it might never be found again…"

"That's cool." Said the copy. Its eyes were shining with excitement.

Gilbert nodded. He looked up at Twinkles, who was perched in a tree. "So… You're a fairy… How's that working out for you?" Twinkles quickly flew around in a few circles before landing back on its branch.

"That well huh?"

The copy smiled. "Pretty."

Gilbert nodded. "Yeah… Canada found it in here… You know, there are lots of other things like Twinkles out there… There are things that look way cooler than Twinkles too. You're missing out on a lot by staying here."

The copy shrugged. "I don't mind…"

"Of course you don't." Said Gilbert. "You don't mind following the orders of a man that's obviously not coming back for you."

"He will come back." Snapped the copy.

"Of course he will." Said Gilbert. "But the question is when? When will he come back? A few hours? A few days? Weeks? Months? Years? When is Hunter going to come back for you?"

The copy pouted. "Someday… He'll come back someday."

Gilbert shrugged and stood up. He had planted the seeds of doubt in the copy's mind and from there he would let his own emotions. "Someday, not today." He yawned. "Well, time for me to go back. See you later."

The copy nodded, he seemed to be a deep thought. "Okay…"

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Gilbert sat in his room with a smirk on his face. He had everything planed down to the last detail. He would get the copy to come with him, as a scape goat if things went wrong, find Hunter and either kill him or wound him if killing him wasn't an option, take his keys and go free Canada, preferably switching him with the copy if things went wrong.

He looked over at Twinkles and frowned. "What? You think I should feel guilty for using him? He isn't even real, remember?"

Twinkles tilted in a way that seemed to question Gilbert's ability to think. In all scientific manners the copy was technically real. It was physically there and could speak and think and breathe and function like a normal human. But on the flip side it wasn't real. It was something Hunter had made with magic. He wasn't really human.

When Hunter died it might even disappear into thin air. He had read that those kind of things happened in fairy tales. When the evil force that was tormenting the land had died all the other spells that were cast over the land were lifted and everything went back to normal.

He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. '_When all this is over… When all this is over I can relax. I hate how difficult this is. But no matter what the cost, no matter how many people have to suffer and die, I will save him. I can't lose Matthew again… I mean Canada. I can't lose Canada again._'

He looked up at Twinkles and chuckled darkly. His eyes were dark and dangerous. "Matthew's dead. I couldn't save him, but I sure as hell can save Canada." He got up and walked outside. "You wait here Twinkles. I'm getting something to drink."

He went outside and started to make his way to the kitchen. He seemed to have a dangerous, if not insane, air about him. If he had walked past one of his friends like that they would have pulled him aside and probably locked him in a padded room that was under watch 24/7 for at least 48 hours, given his history of doing stupid things. His smirk devilish smirk wasn't helping him much either.

'_I'm going to kill him._' He thought gleefully. '_I'll torture him first. He deserves to feel the pain he put Canada through… I can probably achieve this with a few dozen knives, a tank of water and an iron maiden._' He giggled a little to himself. '_He'll die begging for mercy, and he's not going to get it. I'll draw out his torture out for as long as possible. What a sweet and fitting end to a monster like him._'

His train of thought was cut short when someone grabbed his arm. Gilbert spun around on his heels with the intent to punch that person in the face, but stopped when he saw who it was.

"I was calling you." Said Scrap.

Gilbert frowned. "Yeah, whatever… Thanks for trying to help before. It's nice that you had a change of heart right at the end."

Scrap shrugged. "Yeah well… I was an asshole. But don't get me wrong, I still think Canada's an idiot for not killing Hunter straight up and deserves to get his head kicked in, but if helping him will kill Hunter I'm willing to help."

Gilbert rolled his eyes. This jerk was never going to change. "Whatever… Anyway, what did you want?"

Scrap handed Gilbert a bread roll. "Raven said you might be hungry."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow in question, but still took the roll. "Right…"

"Yeah." Said Scrap. "You should eat this in your room. It has quite a sharp taste to it. You should probably eat it now. In your room. Go."

Gilbert frowned a little. "Right… I'll get going then…"

Scrap grinned. "Good. See you around then."

Gilbert nodded and walked back to his room. When he got there Twinkles started to flutter around happily. Gilbert chuckled and sat down. "Hey there buddy. Miss me much?" He sat down and started to pull apart the bread roll. If he was right, Raven had cooked a knife into it. The first thing he saw was a thin blade. He grinned and kept pulling it apart until all he was left with was a dagger and a note sealed in a thin coat of wax.

The dagger looked pretty average; regular length, razor sharp edge, and a fancy looking handle. Upon closer inspection of the handle he noticed that fused into the base of the handle was an iron cross… The same iron cross that Canada had told him Prussia had given to him.

"What the fuck?" He quickly put the dagger down and quickly picked up the note, cracking off the wax casing.

_Hey Gilbert._

_Look… I know I've been kind of a dick and stuff, but I really want Hunter dead. The other day he gave this iron cross necklace thing and told me to do whatever I wanted with it. So I made a dagger. Give that bastard hell!_

_From Scrap_

Gilbert chuckled. He was never going to figure out Scrap. He picked up the dagger again and smirked. "That fucker's going to die." He said. "He's going to die and go straight to hell."

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Hope you all liked that. Please review!


	66. Paint It Red

**Shinigami-cat: **Okay so this'll probably be the last chapter from Canada's POV for a while. I hope you all like it… I OWN NOTHING!

**Paint It Red**

Canada woke up to the taste of blood in his mouth. He sighed and sat up, wiping away any of it that had happened to slip out of his mouth while he was sleeping. '_What the hell happened yesterday? Hunter didn't punch me._'

He stood up and walked over to his mirror. He opened his mouth, looking for any signs that he happened to bite the inside of his mouth while he was sleeping. What he actually saw made him scream; his gums were bleeding badly and shark like teeth were poking out of his bloody gums.

"What the hell?" He whimpered. "What happened to my teeth? Why am I getting shark teeth? Am I starting to physically turn into a Plague?" Tears started to build up in his eyes. "No… I don't want to be a monster… I don't want to be a monster… I can't… I can't… I… Why?"

He fell to the ground and started to cry. '_No… no, no, no. I don't want to turn into one of them! I don't want to die!_'

He heard the door slowly opened and click shut, the padded footsteps across the floor and the soft thump of knees hitting the ground next to him. He felt Hunter's arms wrap around him and lift him up.

"Calm down Canada." He cooed softly. "What's wrong?" Canada opened his mouth and showed Hunter his teeth, not trusting his voice in this situation. Hunter just smiled and sat on the bed. "There's nothing wrong with your teeth."

Canada hissed and started to wriggle out of Hunter's grip. "Die! Just fucking die! I'm turning into a monster!"

Hunter growled and grabbed Canada by the hair. "You're not turning into a monster!" He spat. "You're turning into something better. Something that can survive in this world. Something wonderful. Something awesome!"

Canada glared into Hunter's eyes. "I hate you."

Hunter snorted and shoved Canada back onto his bed. "Stop fighting it Canada. Aren't you hungry? You've refused to eat for the last few days. You must be starving."

Canada growled and pushed himself against the headboard. "I don't want anything."

Hunter laughed and muttered a chant under his breath. In a matter of seconds a silver platter appeared in Hunter's hands. On the platter was a bowl with a lump of red flesh. The smell was amazing, it made his mouth water. "Are you sure you want nothing?" Hunter asked with a smirk on his face.

Canada nodded slowly, keeping his eyes on the food. "I'm good…"

"We'll see." Said Hunter. He ripped some strands of meat off with his fingers and slowly ate it. Savouring the taste and licking the blood off his fingers. "This tastes so good…"

Canada's tongue darted out and swept across his lips. '_I don't even know what meat that is… I don't care either. Screw it if it's uncooked. I need something to eat now!_' He leapt forwards and grabbed the meat out of the bowl and sunk his teeth into the soft, warm flesh. The hot, thick taste of copper filled his mouth. Part of his mind was screaming at him to spit it out, but another, more powerful part of his mind was telling him to eat.

Hunter smirked and patted Canada's head in an almost adoring way. "Good boy. I knew you needed to eat. How do you like the taste of human stake?"

'_Fuck… I knew it was going to be something like that._' He thought bitterly, yet he couldn't bring himself to drop the meat and purge it from his system. He just kept eating until there was nothing left. By the time he was done blood covered his hands and was smeared cross his mouth.

Hunter chuckled. "Did it taste good? Did you just love the taste of human flesh?" Canada just growled at the man. This only made Hunter laugh even more. "Don't be like that. Humans only need three things; food, sleep and a mate. The question is, are you strong enough to find those things?" He wiped his thumb over Canada's blood stained lips, smirking. "You're a really messy eater."

Canada growled and moved to the other side of the bed, staying as far away from Hunter as possible. "Change me back."

Hunter grinned and licked the blood off his thumb. "I can't. You're turning into a Plague. Accept your fate."

"My future isn't written in stone." Snapped Canada. "I will not become a Plague, I will stay human and I will kill you."

"Then do it." Said Hunter with a smirk. He unbuttoned his shirt, letting it fall off his shoulders. His pasty white skin stood out against his black pants. Hunter threw it to the side and casually laid down on the bed, staring at Canada. "Come on. You want to kill me, don't you? Rip out my heart right here and now."

Canada growled darkly and clawed the bed sheets with his bloody fingertips. Hunter might have been testing him. Seeing if he would actually kill him or not. It was all too tempting to just jump onto him, dig his fingers into Hunter's soft flesh, snap his rib cage like twigs and pull out his heart. But this was all too easy. Hunter had to be planning something. He always was.

"Go away." Hissed Canada.

Hunter smirked. "What? Not even going to attempt to rip out my heart?"

"Not today." Muttered Canada. "Now's not the time…"

Hunter quickly sat up, grabbed Canada's wrists and pulled him onto his waist, forcing one hand over his heart. "Procrastination." He hissed darkly. "Nothing but procrastination. You put it off years ago and this is how the world ended up. You claimed to be a peaceful person who hates war, but the truth is you are lazy. You don't want to hurt others because you are a lazy little person who knows that they'll get over looked anyway!" He tightened his grip on Canada's hand. "Instead you found refuge in others who could fight. Prussia was one of the strongest people you know."

"Shut up." Hissed Canada. His fingertips started to dig into Hunter's flesh. "Just shut up."

"But I'm speaking the truth." Snapped Hunter. "You love violence. You crave it. You subconsciously crave it. You almost lost your mind when Prussia died. You missed the violence."

Canada's eyes turned several shades darker as pure hatred started to pump through his veins. "He never once hurt me. Physically or mentally."

Hunter laughed, his own fingers digging into Canada's wrist. "Prussia stabbed you in the hand right before he died. Don't you remember? Or are you too blinded by your own delusions and fantasies of love and sacrifice?"

Canada growled and dug his fingers into Hunter's chest, drawing a few small beads of blood. "You'll never understand." He spat. "You'll never understand what he or I went through. You're nothing but a shadow of your former glory. I had heard stories of you when I was just a child. All of them about how you almost captured the whole of Europe."

Hunter smirked. "Ah, the good old days."

"They called you Lucifer." Hissed Canada spitefully. "The devil. Death. A god of death and destruction. A night terror. Ancient Egypt even called you Ammit the gobbler. You became a symbol of death that took millions of forms in the ancient world."

"Guilty as charged." Said Hunter happily. "I had a habit of changing my shape back then."

Canada smirked. "Yet you were erased from history. No one knew who you were. Only the nations had any clue about who you were, and even then only the oldest of us remembered and they were even starting to forget."

"What do I care?" Hissed Hunter. "Let them forget me. Let them forget all about me. Let them curse the day they forgot about me. Let them beg for mercy at a god, a demon, a bringer of death that they overlooked because it was convenient for them to do so."

"Did you do all this because you wanted to be remembered?" Asked Canada.

Hunter shrugged. "I honestly didn't care if history forgot all about me. If you remember from the stories I said that I would come back when and if the original countries that sent me back to that hell had died. The Roman Empire, Germania, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece and all the rest are gone."

"You're a sick bastard." Growled Canada.

Hunter chuckled and brought Canada's other hand up to his mouth, casually licking away at the dried blood. "Keep calling me names if you want. My heart is made of stone."

Canada ripped his hand away from Hunter's mouth and dug his nails deeper into his chest. "Should make it easier to find then."

Hunter smirked and lazily tilted his head to the side. "Do it. Kill me. Rip out my heart and eat it up, like the good little Plague you are."

"I'm not a Plague." Hissed Canada, starting to rip lightly the sink and muscle from the bone. "I never will be."

Hunter just grinned devilishly. "So you say."

Canada growled and started to strangle Hunter, knocking him back onto the mattress. "SHUT UP!" He screamed. "I'M NOT A MONSTER! I'LL NEVER BE A MONSTER! NO MATTER WHAT I LOOK LIKE I'LL NEVER BE ONE!" When Hunter was forced back onto the mattress his eye mask was disturbed and knocked slightly off his face, revealing his one good eye. At the sight of it Canada's grip eased a little.

Hunter smirked. "Do my eyes remind you of him? Do they remind you of everything I took from you? My eyes, the colour of rubies, the colour of blood, the colour of life and death… the same colour and shade as his." He quickly flipped positions so he had Canada pinned under him. "No matter how much my eyes remind you of that freak you must remember that I'm not him. Just because my eyes are the same doesn't mean that the rest of me is."

Canada growled and feebly attempted to push Hunter off. "I know that… I just haven't seen Prussia's eyes in a while."

Hunter smirked and re adjusted his mask. "Didn't Gilbert try to save you a few days ago? You should have gotten more than your fill of red eyes then."

"It doesn't matter about the colour or the shade." Said Canada. "What counts is the emotion behind them. Prussia, like all the other countries hold the burden of a hundred lifetimes. They hold fear, happiness, hatred and sorrow in what I believe is its most pure form. No mortal eyes can even come close to that level of intensity."

Hunter shrugged. "In my books red is red. A colour associated closely with death."

"Yet you said it can bring life." Said Canada. "You said that earlier."

Hunter smirked. "I see you're starting to pay attention now. I like that. Paying attention to the closest of details is the only way to survive this hell."

"You aren't wrong there." Said Canada with a grin. "You should follow your own advice Hunter. You yourself have overlooked something very important. By doing so you have signed away your own life, because I promise you that I will be the one to end your life. I will rip out your heart and laugh in your face."

Hunter smirked and playfully poked Canada's nose. "Procrastination." He giggled. "You've been saying the same thing for years. I still don't believe you. I never will believe you. You can't kill me. I'm a part of you. I'm from your country from before it was even a country. I'm one of the most important parts of your history. The history you choose to ignore. Your history, painted red with blood."

"One person's actions don't condemn a nation." Growled Canada.

"So people didn't hate Germans after WWII?" Asked Hunter smugly.

"Do you always use the past against people?" Snapped Canada.

Hunter shrugged. "Does a countries history condemn a nation?" He slowly sat up and put his shirt back on. "You had many chances to kill me. Every time you hesitate and put it aside. You'll never kill me."

Canada stayed there on his back and frowned. "Your day is coming soon. Not even we countries are going to live forever."

Hunter laughed and stood up. "You'll never kill me. You can't kill me. You're too weak. You're pathetic. You'll keep putting it off until it's too late."

Canada rolled his eyes and looked away. '_Did you just want to see if you could control me? See how far you could you push me until I almost kill you? I will kill you, but not now. I don't want to kill you while I'm angry. I want to kill you with no regrets._'

Hunter chuckled and placed another plater in front of Canada. "In case you get hungry later on."

Canada looked at the latter and frowned. Sitting in front of him was a rectangular shaped bowl with what looked like a forearm in it, marinating in its own blood. "What the hell?"

"You're turning into a Plague." Said Hunter simply. "Your teeth are just the start. Normal food is going to start to taste terrible and can even make you ill. Human flesh is the only thing that you can digest without wanting to die… Besides you didn't care before, you're even drooling a little now!"

Canada frowned and wiped the saliva away from his mouth. Despite what his mind was telling him, his body was speaking a different language. His body wanted to eat the flesh in front of him despite the fact that he was telling himself that it was so wrong. More than wrong, it was cannibalism.

One could have argued that eating Grabbers was considered second hand cannibalism, but their DNA was so mutilated that they couldn't be considered human anymore. All humanity had been stripped from their minds and all primal emotions had taken over. There was no reasoning with a thing like them. He shuddered at that thought.

"How long do I have?" Whispered Canada.

Hunter shrugged. "My guess is a few days. But who knows? Could be in a few hours."

Canada nodded sadly. "I see… If that's the case I'll have to kill you today… Before I change completely."

Hunter smirked. "You always procrastinate." He walked out of the room and locked the door.

When Canada was alone he chuckled darkly. "I don't procrastinate. I just plan ahead, where you just choose to live in the moment… That's your downfall."

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **There you go. Please review!


	67. Stab, Stab Stab

**Shinigami-cat: **I had lots of fun writing this chapter, so I really hope you all like reading it… I OWN NOTHING!

**Stab, Stab… Stab**

Gilbert hummed happily to himself as he pushed his wheel barrow along the path while Twinkles floated over his head and the copy trudged after him. It was obvious that everything Gilbert had been talking about the previous day had gotten to him.

Gilbert grinned happily. '_Today's the day. I have my dagger hidden up my sleeve and a clone thing that'll follow me as soon I push the right buttons…_'

"So…" Muttered the copy. "You almost done here?"

Gilbert smiled innocently. "Yep. I'm pretty much done now. I'm just going to dump these grass clippings into the compost pile and then I'm out of here."

The copy frowned. "Oh… I…"

Gilbert grinned and looked over his shoulder at the copy. He could see the uneasiness in this face. "Yes? What is it?"

The copy fidgeted a little. "I want to go." He whispered.

"Go where?" Asked Gilbert, his smile getting wider and wider with every passing second.

"I want to go outside." He said. "Can you take me there?"

Gilbert smiled sweetly at the copy. "Sure, but when we go outside I need to do some things… Go to a few places and help out a friend, the usual stuff."

The copy grinned. "Thank you."

Gilbert couldn't help but feel a small pang of guilt stabbing him in the heart. He was using this copy after all. But he shouldn't feel too bad for what he was doing right? How was what he doing any different to what Hunter was doing to him? It was an awkward feeling.

All he could do was put on a fake smile. "Okay."

It didn't take Gilbert long to get rid of the grass clipping and left the wheel barrow with the compost. They walked over to the exit and the copy started to shift nervously.

Gilbert smiled reassuringly at the copy and held his hand. "Trust me. You'll be fine."

The copy smiled and nodded. "Okay. I trust you." His child like naïve personality was enough to make anyone feel guilty. It wasn't that he didn't want to lie to him. He just didn't want to tell him the truth. How could he say that he was planning to murder Hunter and use him as a scape goat if it all went to hell?

Gilbert smiled and led the copy outside. The copy's reaction was priceless; he was all wide eyed and stunned. Gilbert chuckled and pulled him along. "If you don't want to draw suspicion to yourself I suggest you keep your mouth shut and keep to the shadows. We need to get to the East side of this castle… but first I need to get some keys… I should be able to find them in the throne room."

The copy nodded. "Okay… Everything is so grey… and dark…"

Gilbert chuckled. "I know. It's completely different from in there huh?"

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

They both skilfully made their way to the throne room, which in Gilbert's mind was an amazing feet of pure awesomeness. Made even more awesome when you considered that Twinkles lights up a whole room and stands out like a sore thumb the whole time.

Gilbert pulled the copy behind a statue and smiled sweetly at him. "Just wait here for a second and I'll be back." Said Gilbert reassuringly. "I'll be back in a moment… If you're worried you can keep Twinkles with you."

The copy smiled a little. "Thank you." The copy was almost too trusting in Gilbert's opinion.

Gilbert smiled and quietly slunk into Hunter's throne room. Hunter was looking out a window, lost in this own thought. Gilbert gritted his teeth and pulled the dagger out of his sleeve. Jus the sight of Hunter made his blood boil with hatred. He silently creped over towards Hunter. In a few minutes the monster would be dead.

When he was standing right behind him, Gilbert lifted the dagger high into the air and slammed it into Hunter's back, twisting it slightly. Hunter cried out in a mix of pain and shock. His cries made Gilbert grin sadistically. He grabbed Hunter by his hair and continuously stabbed him in the back, over and over again. When Hunter's back was soaked with his own blood, Gilbert started to stab him in the neck. He wasn't sure what was making him so brutal. Perhaps it was all the pent up rage he felt towards him? Maybe he just wanted Hunter to suffer horribly before he died? That was probably it.

He had heard about people that had outer body experiences when they were committing an act of violence. Some people described it as watching a movie play out in front of them. Some said that they could see everything as if they were floating above it all. For Gilbert, stabbing Hunter to death was like watching a gory horror movie. Blood spraying out everywhere; hitting the floor, hitting the walls and anything within a three meter radius of Hunter's body.

By the time he stopped Hunter's body was riddled with holes and his head was in Gilbert's hand. His breathing was ragged and uneven. He had never once thought in his life that he would murder someone so brutally. He dropped the head to the floor, hearing the splat as it made contact with the blood.

He chuckled a little and kicked Hunter's head across the floor. '_Fuck ripping out his heart. He can't live if he has no head._' He crouched over Hunter's body and grabbed the keys. He chuckled again as hid the dagger back up his sleeve and walked out of the room, where the copy was waiting for him.

"What happened to you?" It asked innocently.

Gilbert thought for a second. He couldn't just tell him he had hacked Hunter's head off. "Well… I really shouldn't have done in there without checking if there was red paint."

"Red paint?"

"Yep." Said Gilbert. "Accidently spilled a while bucket on myself."

The copy nodded, accepting that as a valid response. "Okay!" Gilbert smiled and took the copy's hand, leading him towards the East wing of the castle.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Just as Raven said there would be, there was only one door made of steel on the third floor of the east wing. There were even some empty bowls and plates next to it. Gilbert quickly looked through the keys until he found some that looked like they could open the door.

He quickly opened the door and looked inside. Sitting on the bed with his head in his hands was his Canadian "Canada?" Canada's head shot up and he looked at Gilbert. The first thing Gilbert noticed was Canada's new set of shark-like teeth. "Holy hell!"

Canada gulped and covered his mouth with his hands. "Gilbert! What are you doing here?"

Gilbert was dumbstruck, he had no idea what to say. "I… um…" Suddenly Twinkles flew into the room followed by the copy. "We came to rescue you?"

"Hello." Said the copy.

Canada stared at the copy with wide eyes, than at Gilbert. He stood up and walked over to Gilbert, leading him out of the room. "Could you excuse us for a second? I need to have a private word with Gilbert… But feel free to make yourself at home."

The copy smiled and sat down on the bed. "Okay!"

When Gilbert and Canada were outside they started going at each other's throats. "What the fuck happened to you teeth?" Hissed Gilbert.

"I tried to tell you before!" Growled Canada. "I tried to but Hunter walked in before I could tell you… I'm turning into a Plague."

Gilbert's jaw dropped in shock, horror and even fear. "What? You're… you're turning into a… a Plague?"

Canada nodded sadly. "Yeah…"

"There has to be a way to fix it." Said Gilbert. "There has to be!"

"There isn't." Said Canada sadly. "Everyone's been looking for a cure for years but there isn't one. I'm turning into a Plague… I just got these teeth this morning… I only have a few hours left… days at the most."

Gilbert shook his head. "No. I refuse to believe this! There has to be a cure for this! The S-Plagues would have it. They would have to know what the cure is if they can make humans turn into Plagues!"

Canada smiled sadly. "It doesn't really matter, Gil…" He sighed a little and ran his fingers through his hair. "But how did you get those keys? Aren't they Hunter's? Also, I have no idea why I didn't ask this before, but what happened to your clothes? Are you covered in blood?"

Gilbert nodded and showed Canada the dagger. "Yeah… I kind of hacked off his head after I stabbed him to death."

"Are you stupid?" Snapped Canada. "You cut off his head but left his heart inside?"

Gilbert shrugged. "What's the big deal? He has no head. He's not going anywhere."

Canada grabbed Gilbert's shoulders and shook him frantically. "You idiot! It doesn't matter if he has no head attached to his body! He needs his heart out of his body for him to die! Countries that have gone to war have had their heads chopped off, guts spilled and have taken countless arrows to the knee! Unless the heart if ripped out via removal, explosion or really unlucky impalement they are still going to live!"

"Well how was I supposed to know?" Snapped Gilbert. "Besides, what the hell is he going to do? He's a fucking decapitated head and body!"

"He's going to stick himself back together and murder you!" Hissed Canada. "He will murder you very slowly and make you beg for him to kill you! He's a fucking sadist!"

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Come on Canada, I kicked his head pretty far away from his body and I hacked it off his body. He's not going to attach his head to his body for a long time. We can go back and take out his heart, no problem."

Canada gulped and smiled a little. "I guess… Yeah, let's go back and take out his heart." He looked over at the copy and frowned. "Let's leave him here… He'll just get in the way… We'll leave Twinkles too. They can keep each other company."

Gilbert nodded in agreement. "Yeah… It's probably for the best anyway… Twinkles, you stay here with this guy, okay? Make sure he doesn't get into trouble. We'll be back soon."

Twinkles bobbed up and down and the copy smiled and nodded. "Okay. See you soon."

Gilbert smiled sweetly and closed the door. He breathed a sigh of relief and turned around to see the less than impressed face of Canada. "What?"

"What do you mean what?" Asked Canada. "Why did you bring him here?"

Gilbert rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Well… I thought that if it all went wrong and Hunter survived my blitz attack, which I still think he didn't, I could switch you and the copy… Mind you I didn't expect you to have shark teeth."

Canada sighed. "Yeah… they only sprang up a few hours ago… Let's just get Hunter's heart already."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Gilbert opened the doors to the throne room. "He's right there in the pool of blood… that has no body in it… Fuck…"

Canada gulped and quickly rushed into the room. "Damn that's a lot of blood… and the only foot prints leading away from it are your foot prints…"

Gilbert walked over to him, frowning. "So… have any idea where Hunter might be?"

"I don't know!" Cried Canada. "He should still be here! He could be anywhere! It doesn't really matter though does it? He's probably super pissed, no he is super pissed that you chopped off his head."

"I hacked off his head."

Canada rolled his eyes. "I'm sorry, he had his head hacked off!"

The sound of the door clicking shut echoed around the room, making Canada and Gilbert freeze in fear. Wild laughter filled the room. "Well, well, well… Did you really think I would die so easily?"

Canada gulped and looked around. "This is why you needed to rip out his heart! I told you he'd still be alive!"

"Well I'm sorry!" Snapped Gilbert. "Next time!"

Hunter laughed as he slowly crawled down a wall like a cockroach; his clothes were badly ripped, thanks to Gilbert, blood was still dripping from his body, but the wounds had almost completely healed. He had this crazy look on his face that just screamed insanity. "Dead men don't get a second chance!"

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **That's right… I left it there! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!


	68. Behind The Mask

**Shinigami-cat: **Hey everyone! Sorry I left it on such a massive cliff hanger before. But I had a good reason for doing so! I had run out of ideas… But I have my idea's back now, so on with the story… I OWN NOTHING!

**Behind The Mask**

As Hunter slowly descended the wall Gilbert couldn't help but notice the odd way he moved; short jerky movements, like his body wasn't responding properly. He still had an insane look on his face. "I'm going to use your face to make a hat and use your spine as a backscratcher."

"Go to hell!" Snapped Gilbert. He was not going to get intimidated by him of all people. "You can't even move properly!"

Hunter chuckled a little as he staggered onto the floor. "Give me a second here… You did stab my spinal cord pretty badly. I need a few moments to get all the nerves connected again." He quickly turned and cracked his back loudly. "Much better!"

Gilbert grimaced. '_Gross._'

Hunter chuckled a little to himself and looked over at Canada and Gilbert. "Why the fuck are you here? Get back to your room Canada."

"Fuck off!" Snapped Canada. "I'm not going back in there! I'm not some doll you can just play around with."

Hunter smiled sweetly. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. That kind of attitude won't do at all. I guess I'll have to deal with that… But first I have to get rid of the little shit that tried to kill me."

Gilbert gulped. '_Shit… I really fucked up on this one didn't I?_'

Canada growled and stepped in front of Gilbert. "Back off Hunter. You are not touching Gilbert. If you even try I'll rip you to shreds."

"What the hell are you thinking?" Whispered Gilbert. "You know he's going to kill you."

Canada looked at Gilbert out of the corner of his eye, smiling a little. "I won't die if I kill him first… Give me your dagger and stand back. Try to get the door open." Gilbert hesitated but gave Canada the dagger.

Hunter chuckled and slowly walked forwards, wiping the blood off his face. "You? Kill me? That'll be the day. Just step aside Canada. I don't want to kill you. I just want the kid."

Canada laughed and started to walk towards Hunter. "You know I can't let you kill him. As selfish as it seems, he's the only thing that's kept me sane for the past year and a bit. If it wasn't for him I would have gone crazy by now." Suddenly Canada threw the dagger at Hunter.

Hunter quickly dodged it with a gasp, not expecting Canada to do that. While he was distracted Canada ran forwards and punched Hunter in the face. When his head recoiled Canada kicked Hunter in the groin, grabbed him by the shoulders and kneed him repeatedly in the chest. The sound of bones snapping under the Canadian's force echoed around the room.

Gilbert stood there in shock. He had no idea that Canada was so strong. '_My god… How can he have so much energy after all he's been through?_'

Canada flipped Hunter onto his stomach and grabbed the dagger. "It ends here Hunter." He hissed.

"This body's not done fighting yet!" Hunter grabbed Canada's arms and flipped him over so that he was on his back. He smirked sadistically. "I really hate hurting you sometimes Birdie, but sometimes you give me no choice!" He tightened his grip on Canada's wrists, sinking his nails in deep, making Canada drop the dagger.

"Go to hell." Canada growled as he head butted Hunter breaking his nose. Hunter hissed in pain and let Canada go. Said Canadian took the opportunity and quickly got to his feet.

"Fuck!" Hunter glared at Canada. "You little bitch! Fuck going easy on you! Fuck it all! I'm going to beat you into a coma!"

While Hunter was distracted with Canada, Gilbert ran over to the door and tried to find a way to open it. He growled in frustration as he tried to push it open. '_Damn it! Did he use magic or something to shut this thing? Not cool! Not cool at all!_'

Suddenly the sound of something like glass shattering filled the room followed by a heavy silence. Gilbert gulped and slowly turned his head to see something that completely shocked him; Canada was standing above Hunter, dagger in one hand and half of Hunter's black and red eye mask in the other, the rest of the mas was shattered all over the floor and Hunter was on his knees, hiding his face with his hands.

"Why do you hide behind a mask?" Asked Canada. "Can't you face up to your actions? Do you need to hide behind something?"

Hunter chuckled. "I worked for years… centuries to get this body. I have enough difficulty healing this body when I get stabbed, do you think I have any idea how to connect optical fibres back together? Besides I hate people knowing I'm blind in one eye."

Gilbert rolled his eyes. '_He's so vain. What an asshole._'

Canada sighed sadly, dropping the eye mask to the floor. "So it was all for the sake of vanity? Is it for the sake of vanity that you've started to hide that tattoo too? Did you think I wouldn't notice?"

Hunter smiled a little. "You always were too smart for your own good…" Black patches started to blotch the skin on his neck as he finally let the tattoo show. Even from the distance that Gilbert was standing he could clearly see the shape of Hunter's tattoo; the Prussian eagle.

All the colour drained from Gilbert's face. '_The Prussian eagle? What? Maybe he really liked it? But of that's the case why would he hide it? He can't be him, Canada said he was dead! Everyone said he was dead! There's no way that Hunter can be Prussia!_'

Canada smiled and gently ran his fingers through Hunter's hair. "I'm sorry it took so long for me to do this…" He muttered. "But a promise is a promise and I plan to see this through to the end…" He pressed the dagger into Hunter's back. "Goodbye Prussia."

Gilbert's jaw dropped. '_Holy shit! Hunter is Prussia!_'

"NO!" Screamed Hunter. He jumped up and grabbed Canada by the throat and started to strangle him; his silver hair just shadowed his red eyes blazing with hatred. "I'M NOT PRUSSIA! THIS BODY IS MINE! PRUSSIA IS DEAD! I RIPPED OUT HIS SOUL AND FED IT TO THE DARKNESS! GET IT THROUGH YOUR THICK SKULL! PRUSSIA IS DEAD! I KILLED HIM! HE'S NEVER COMING BACK!"

Canada gasped for air as he struggled to get out of Hunter's grip. "Then… why… can't you… kill… me? It's… muscle memory… Can't kill me… because… Prussia… wouldn't…"

Gilbert was frozen in fear and confusion. '_What the hell is going on? Hunter is Prussia but Prussia is dead and he can't kill Canada because he's Prussia? This is too confusing! Shit I need to help him!_'

Gilbert was about to run over to Hunter and rip his hands off Canada's neck, but Twinkles happened to fly into his face. "Not now Twinkles!" He snapped. "… TWINKLES? Shit, if you're here does that mean…?" He quickly looked over to the door and gulped. Standing there was the copy. He was watching the Hunter strangling Canada with wide, fearful eyes.

Gilbert was freaking out. '_Shit! What do I do? Do I help him or Canada? Fuck my life!_' Suddenly Canada kicked Hunter in the groin, making him drop him. '_Okay, Canada's good for now…_'

He quickly ran back over to the copy and stood in front of him to black his view. "What's happening?" Whispered the copy. "Why is Hunter hurting Canada?"

"Something's happened and now they are fighting." Said Gilbert in the calmest way possible, given the current situation. "But how the heck did you get here? Why aren't you in the room and how did you unlock the door?"

"Twinkles brought me here and unlocked the door…" Muttered the copy in a small voice.

Gilbert glared at the ball of light. "What the hell is wrong with you? You've traumatized him!" He grabbed the copy and held him close, pressing his face into his shoulder. "Why the hell do I have to be the care giver at a time like this?"

Gilbert looked back at the fight and gulped. Canada wasn't doing so well anymore. Hunter was beating the crap out of him. He threw Canada against a wall with such force that several of the stones became unstuck and collapsed onto him.

When the dust had settled and it became apparent that Canada wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, Hunter turned to Gilbert and smirked. "Don't think I forgot about you now…" He saw the copy and growled. "Not only do you try to take Canada from me twice, you take him too? I'll rip your skin off like wrapping paper, roast your meat and turn whatever's left of you into soup!"

Hunter's words made the copy quake in Gilbert's arms. Gilbert stroked the copy's hair in an attempt to sooth him. "Shut up Hunter. Can't you see you're scaring him?" He hoped he came across more defiant and brave than he felt.

"He should be scared!" Bellowed Hunter. "He defied a direct order! I told him to stay in the garden, but no! He had to leave! What did you say to him to make him leave?"

"I told him the truth!" Snapped Gilbert, tightening his grip on the copy. "I told him about what you did to everyone, but he didn't believe me, so I told him about everything outside of this hell! I told him about the ocean and how big the world is compared to that cage you keep him in."

Hunter growled and pulled the copy and Gilbert apart. He pushed the cop away while keeping a tight grip on Gilbert. He glared at the copy. "I'll deal with you later."

Gilbert struggled to get out of Hunter's grip but the more he fought back the tighter Hunter's grip became. "Let me go!" Snapped Gilbert.

"Like hell I will." Hissed Hunter darkly. "You ruined everything. Everything would have been just fine if you just died! I should have killed you when I first saw you! You don't belong in this world!" He grabbed Gilbert's hair and tilted his head back, smirking. "I could just rip the blood right out of you… but that's no fun… I think I'll rip your eyes out instead… with your own blood!"

He ran his nails across Gilbert's cheek, cutting deep enough to draw blood. All Hunter did was smirk and move a finger slightly, making the blood twist and turn, creating two thin, insect like claw structures, the hovered just above Gilbert eyes. Gilbert gulped his eyes wide with fear. '_I'm going to die! He's going to rip out my eyes and torture me to death! I don't want to die! Please someone, anyone! Save me!_'

Hunter smirked sadistically. "Now don't go and close your eyes now… It'll hurt even more if your eyelids get ripped apart too." Gilbert's heart was pounding in his ears, his breathing was ragged. He was terrified.

Suddenly the sound of rocks shifting and fabric ripping filled the air. Both Hunter and Gilbert glanced over at Canada's body in a mix of shock and horror; twisted bat-like wings were pushing themselves out of the Canadian's back, his feet morphed and twisted into goat hooves, barbed spines started to push themselves out of his calves and his head and a long red and black tail grew from the base of his spine. Canada slowly lifted his head and growled darkly glaring at them, his eyes were a dark mix of purple and blue, his pupils vertical like a cats.

Hunter grinned. "So that's what he looks like as a Plague… So cute!"

Gilbert gulped. "Oh god… Canada…"

Hunter looked at Canada then back at Gilbert, sinister intent dancing behind his red eyes. "Let's see how loyal Canada is to me now." He threw Gilbert towards Canada, smirking. "Kill him! Kill that brat right now! Show no mercy! I want his blood all over the place!"

Gilbert gulped as he looked up at Plague Canada. He didn't really seem too interested in Gilbert at all, he seemed to be more concerned with walking on his new feet. He stumbled and wobbled on shaky legs, like a new born baby faun. It was kind of cute in a disturbing sort of way. But after a while Canada just gave up trying to walk and just settled for crawling along the ground instead.

'_Okay…_' Thought Gilbert. '_This is weird…_'

"Hey!" Snapped Hunter. "I told you to kill him! You can figure out how to walk later!" Canada nodded and started to crawl towards Gilbert. His violet eyes purged of any and all emotion.

Gilbert was frozen in fear. He couldn't move. He couldn't think straight. '_What the hell? Why is he doing what Hunter says?_ _This isn't like him_ _at all! He's going to kill me isn't he?_'

In a matter of seconds Canada was face to face with Gilbert. Despite is new features he still looked a lot like the old Canada. But it still didn't make Gilbert feel any better about being killed by him. He shut his eyes tight and waited for the end to come.

He could feel Canada's cold fingers brush against his face and his hot breath caressing his neck. "Duck." He whispered.

Gilbert's eyes snapped open. "Huh?"

Canada smiled, something mischief dancing in his eyes. "Duck." Gilbert took the hint and quickly ducked down. At that moment Canada quickly leaped over Gilbert's back and launched himself at Hunter, knocking him to the ground. "Just because I look like a Plagued doesn't mean I have the mind of one!"

"Figure that!" Snapped Hunter. He grabbed one of Canada's wings and ripped it off. Canada screamed in pain and fell to his knees. Hunter took this opportunity to beat the Canadian with his broken wing. "Stupid! Idiot!" He roared in between strikes. "Bastard! Whore! Bitch! Cunt! Moron! Retard! Fuckwit! Dickhead! Dipshit! Faggot! Clit licking heifer!"

Gilbert quickly looked around the room desperate to find a weapon or something he could use to distract Hunter, even if it was only for a second. All he could see were a few bricks and the dagger. He quickly ran over to the bricks and quickly gathered some up. He started to pelt Hunter with them. "Hey! Asshole! Leave him alone!"

Hunter growled and lifted his arms in an attempt to shield his face. Canada quickly seized this opportunity, jumping up he ripped into Hunter's chest, slicing through the skin, shattering the bone, ripping through a lung.

Canada paused, looking into Hunter's eyes. "My hand's wrapped around your heart right now. Do you have any last words before I kill you?"

Hunter chuckled and ran his fingers through Canada's hair. "Stop being so sentimental. If you're going to kill me just kill me already."

Canada smiled sadly. "Goodbye Hunter… Farewell Prussia…" In one swift move Canada pulled out Hunter's heart, but instead of letting his body fall to the floor Canada caught him and slowly eased him to the ground.

Hunter groaned and let his eyes roll into the back of his head, smirking slightly. "Why aren't you laughing?" He asked, blood dripping from his mouth. "You said that when I died… you would… laugh…"

Canada shrugged. "I lied." After a few minutes Hunter's body stopped moving and moments after that his body started to fade away, leaving nothing behind but his torn up and bloodied clothes. When he was gone Canada's eyes filled with tears and he started to cry.

Gilbert frowned and walked over to him. "You have some explaining to do."

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **There you go! There's more confusion and stuff and some answers but not too many… Please review!


	69. Painful Memories

**Shinigami-cat: **Hey everyone! Hopefully this chapter should clear up most of the confusion out there. Also to those I people out there that I told that Hunter wasn't Prussia, sorry! After I looked over everything I realized how similar they were and pretty much all my friends said that it was him so yeah. Sorry that this chapter's a little short… I OWN NOTHING!

**Painful Memories**

Canada sighed sadly, still holding the tattered remains of Hunter's shirt in his hands. "Explain?" He muttered. "There's so much to explain… but so little time…"

Gilbert sighed and crouched in front of Canada. "What happened to Hunter, Prussia…? Whatever he was?"

Canada smiled slightly, his eyes lovingly looking over the blood stained fabric in his hands. "Prussia's dead… He has been for quite a while. The person who was just here was nothing more than an illusion created by the disgusting liquid in the Hunter's mausoleum."

Gilbert tilted his head in confusion. "I don't understand…"

Canada closed his eyes as he spoke. "Many years ago… way before I became a country, when Europe was still in the days of conquer or be conquered, Hunter was born in my country. The reason for his being was simply human emotions. The wrath, greed, lust, pride, jealousy, sloth and gluttony of humanity brought him into existence. It took him several hundred years feeding off humanities negative energy for him to become strong enough to travel across the ocean to Europe."

Gilbert nodded. "Okay, but what does that have to do with Prussia?"

Canada bit his lip, taking a moment to steady his voice. "Hunter was a creature made of emotion. He had no physical form, but he could change his appearance and occasionally possess animals and people. It was never permanent though, if he stayed in a body too long it would eventually die."

"Is that when he found out about the countries?" Asked Gilbert.

Canada nodded sadly. "He began to notice beings that emitted an odd energy, so he started to watch them. He soon realized that we countries were immortal beings that lived as long as our people and our country stood. He tested his theory by causing several fights among the nations and monitoring their behaviour… He decided that empires would be difficult to possess, but younger countries would be easier."

"So he chose Prussia?" Asked Gilbert. "Why?"

"Because Prussia was strong willed, a fighter, someone he wanted to break for fun." Said Canada simply. "But Hunter was a sadistic demon. He wanted to have Prussia willingly agree to give his body to Hunter… so one day when Prussia was foraging he confused him and made him lost. Hunter said he would show Prussia the way to the nearest village if he promised to pay him back in the future… Thinking that Hunter was merely a human and they would never see each other again he agreed."

'_So he was taken advantage of when he was younger?_' Thought Gilbert. '_How horrible._'

Canada sniffled a little, wiping the tears away from his eyes. "After the deal was made Hunter was discovered by the Ancient nations and they sent Hunter back here, with a curse. Where ever he landed would be his tomb for all eternity, but before the incantation had ended Hunter added his own loophole to the spell. He proclaimed that when all the ancients were dead and gone, he would come back and take the world. Destroying all their descendants as punishment."

"So that's why he took over the world…" Mused Gilbert. "All of it was for revenge…"

Canada nodded. "Yeah… After a few hundred years Prussia forgot about his promise to Hunter and moved on with his life, everyone did." He sighed sadly. "But a year or two before he died he started to have weird dreams of a man calling out to him. No one really thought much of it… but he started to get worse… He started to become paranoid; he started constantly listening to music because he could hear the voice calling to him when it was quite. He would jump at the slightest noise, he couldn't relax anymore. Everyone was starting to think he was developing schizophrenia."

"It was reasonable." Said Gilbert calmly. "I would have thought the same thing. Anyone would have."

Canada chuckled a little. "I guess… I made sure he started to go to therapy but it wasn't helping, if anything it just made it worse." He bit his lip nervously. "Then one night… he just got up and left. He took the car and just drove off in the middle of the night… He went to Hunter's mausoleum and opened it. Hunter's mausoleum was created using powerful magic so it was like getting a slap in the face when it opened. I went to investigate and found Prussia there… standing on a ledge overlooking a giant inland sea of purple."

Gilbert bit his lip. '_That's where he died huh?_'

Tears began to fill Canada's eyes and slowly run down his face. "He told me what he was doing and why. But it wasn't him! His eyes were glazed over and he just seemed like he was in a dream… I managed to snap him out of it but he still fell. I caught him and tried to pull him back up, but the ledge was fragile and couldn't hold our combined weight. I was prepared to die with him…" He looked down at his right hand sadly. "Instead he told me that he loved me and stabbed me in the hand."

"He did it to save you." Said Gilbert. "He didn't want you to die… Your life was more important than his, he wasn't a country anymore. He knew you had to live even if it meant he had to die."

"I guess…" Muttered Canada sadly. "But about five years after his death Prussia came back as a spirit. The Roman Empire had done a few times apparently… I was so happy to see him again, but I could see he was in pain."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "How can a spirit be in pain?"

"When a nation dies their body fades away into history, so to speak, if the body and the soul are separated than they are neither dead nor alive. They are displaced spirits that can't pass away into the next life." Canada sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Prussia told me that even though he was dead his body was still here and it was killing him again."

'_So that's what Hunter meant when he said that he ripped out Prussia's soul…_' Thought Gilbert.

Tears were now freely falling down Canada's face. "He said that soon he would come back but it wouldn't be him at all. It would be a demon using his body as a means to destroy everything. He begged me, pleaded even, for me to kill him… But I couldn't… How could I harm something that looked like him? It was his body. Prussia's body. But I promised him that I would kill him… But I wanted him to live. No matter what monster he would become… I wanted him to live."

"But it just got worse." Said Gilbert. "He wasn't Prussia. He was a monster. You put off killing him. He ended up killing lots of innocent people."

"Was it so wrong to try and preserve my memory of him?" Asked Canada. He sighed and put the shirt on the floor. "I guess you're right… I'm as responsible for those Plagues as the next person… Perhaps it was his time to fade into history." He wiped some of the tears from his eyes and smiled. "But I regret nothing. I loved him and I would have done anything to protect him…"

Gilbert sighed and stood up. He reached out to Canada, smiling. "I understand how you feel. I would have done anything to protect Matthew."

Canada took Gilbert's hand and pulled himself to his feet. He stumbled a little on his hooves but quickly steadied himself. "I know… which is why I have to say I'm sorry to you again."

"What are you talking about?" Asked Gilbert.

Canada chuckled a little and looked over at the copy and Twinkles; the copy was sitting slumped against the wall, while Twinkles hovered close to its face. Canada smiled. "You can go back home now Twinkles. Any repelling magic Hunter used is gone now." Twinkles quickly bobbed up and down excitedly before flying into the copy's chest, absorbing into the copy's body.

Gilbert looked at Canada. "What the hell?"

Canada smiled a little. "Like I told you ages ago… Light fairies and spirit lights get confused all the time."

Gilbert looked at Canada with wide eyes. "Say what? You mean that Twinkles is actually a… and does that mean he's? I swear I'll freaking kill you if you're messing with me!"

"I'm not messing with you." Said Canada calmly.

"What the hell happened?" Groaned the copy as it shook his head. He looked up at Canada and Gilbert, still looking a little confused. His eyes were no longer the dull purple hue that they were before, they were now a vibrant violet colour. He looked right at Gilbert and smiled. "So… four years huh?"

Gilbert grinned and hugged him, tears of joy were starting to roll down his face. "Matthew! I can't believe it! Everyone thought you were dead! I thought you were dead! How did you get here?"

Matthew hugged Gilbert tightly. "Some of those stupid Plagues mistook me for Canada and brought me here. When Hunter realized I wasn't Canada he decided I was close enough and pulled my soul out of my body." He shuddered a little. "It was really weird… I just felt so cold all the time…"

Gilbert smiled and kissed Matthew's cheek. "Well he's gone now. He's never coming back… Wait a second…" He glared at Canada. "You knew he was Matthew all along and you never told me?"

Canada shrugged. "If you knew it was Matthew you would have done something stupid."

"He's right." Said Matthew. "You are kind of stubborn."

"But he didn't have the right to decide what I did and didn't know!" Cried Gilbert. "You kept me in the dark this whole time!"

Canada sighed sadly and walked over to his broken wing, picking it up. "I'm sorry… But everything I did I did because I thought I was saving you heart ache." Using a bit of blood manipulation he was able to reattach his wing.

Gilbert growled. "What the hell? You still-"

"Let it go Gilbert." Said Matthew sadly. "He's been though too much, even for a country."

Gilbert sighed. He knew Matthew was right. "Yeah… Well what now? Do we take down every Plague on this ship?"

Matthew chuckled nervously. "Um… I think landing this thing without it exploding would be better?"

Canada and Gilbert shared a look of fear. "What are you talking about?" They asked.

Matthew frowned. "Eh? Don't you know how this place is kept up? It's a combination of nuclear energy and a spell cast by Hunter to keep everything in balance and to stop it from reaching critical levels and exploding, showering anything within a ten mile radius with radiation and pretty much killing everything living on this island…I thought since Hunter's gone that the spell would be to… I thought you knew…"

Gilbert looked at Canada with wide eyes. "Did you know about this?"

Canada shook his head. "I had no idea! Okay new plan! Matthew, do you know where this reactor core type thing is?"

Matthew nodded. "Yeah, when I was a spirit thing I just floated around the place. I can lead you to it."

Canada smiled. "Good. So this is the plan, we will go there and either stop it from exploding or attempt to contain the blast."

Gilbert and Matthew nodded. "Right!"

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **I hope that explains some stuff for you guys. Please review!


	70. The Choice

**Shinigami-cat: **Yeah, so I hope you all like this chapter. Sorry it took so long to write! I had major writers block right at the beginning of this thing and my grandpa passed away recently… So I really hope you like this chapter… maybe… yeah… It jumps between Canada and Gilbert's POV in this one. I OWN NOTHING!

**The Choice**

They quickly moved down the halls towards the reactor core, avoiding some of the gasps of shock and terror, though most of it was directed at Canada. Seriously, just because he looked like a Plague didn't mean he was one.

After a few twists and turns down dark corridors and through metal rooms they came to a large iron door. "It's in here." Said Matthew.

Gilbert nodded and opened the door; inside was a small narrow passageway only just big enough for two people to walk side by side and at the end was a large industrial strength looking door with a thick glass panel in it so one could look inside.

They quickly moved down the passageway and into the reactor core. The room was filled with complicated machinery, flashing lights and several S-Plagues and G-Plagues.

The S-Plagues quickly scuttled away while the G-Plagues stood, ready to fight. Gilbert growled in frustration. '_Shit… we should have gotten some weapons. We're so fucked!_'

Suddenly Canada pounced forwards, teeth bared and eyes blazing. "TOUCH THEM AND DIE!" He screamed and he started to rip into the G-Plagues. Bloodied limbs and body parts went everywhere.

As the carnage unfolded Matthew gulped and looked at Gilbert. "So… I take it as this kind of thing wasn't uncommon for you two then?"

Gilbert nodded and walked over to a control panel near the centre of the room. "A lot of things happened while you were gone. But we can talk about that unimportant stuff later." He frowned as he looked at the numbers that quickly danced across the screen and the words _Warning _and _Danger_ flashed up occasionally. "I'm guessing this place is going to blow at any second."

Matthew looked over his shoulder and gulped. "I think so… We need to contain the blast and get out of here. There's a different room, not too far from here that pretty much drives this thing."

"Sounds like a good idea." Said Gilbert. He looked over at Canada who was violently shaking an S-Plague and quickly chatting away in the Plagues native tongue. "What do you think Canada?"

Canada quickly looked over at them and snapped the head off the S-Plague. "What?"

"We need to board this place up and get to the room that freaking drives this island." Said Gilbert.

"Sounds like a plan." Said Canada. He quickly walked over to where Matthew and Gilbert were, talking a quick look at the control panel. "Shit." He cursed. "This is ridiculous! We need to get moving now before this thing explodes."

"But the radiation!" Exclaimed Matthew. "That's the real killer!"

"Not possible." Said Canada. "The doors are there to dampen the blast and to stop radiation from leaking out everywhere. A backup generator also kicks in a few seconds after the core goes out. But it has limited power and won't be able to keep this place up for long."

"Then let's stop talking and get the fuck out of here!" Snapped Gilbert. He grabbed Matthew's arm and quickly dragged him back to the door. He quickly glanced back over at Canada and frowned. He looked a little spaced out. "Canada?"

Canada shook his head. "What? Sorry… I just thought I saw… Never mind."

"I felt it too…" Muttered Matthew.

Gilbert frowned. "Okay! We can discuss this all later! Right now we should leave soon to be radiation contaminated room! After all the shit that's just happened I don't feel like dying right now!"

Canada nodded and quickly ushered the other two out of the room. "Right! Let's go!" When they were in the hallway Canada turned to close and lock the door, but just as he was about to, a G-Plague arm shot out and grabbed Canada's leg.

Gilbert swore. "I thought you killed them all!" The G-Plague started to pull itself through into the hall.

"I obviously missed one!" Growled Canada as he quickly kicked the G-Plague in the face, killing it, but accidently breaking the lock in the process. "Damn it!" Growled Canada.

"It'll be fine though right?" Asked Matthew, we just need to have one door closed."

Gilbert nodded. "Yeah, two doors are just to be on the safe side."

Canada shook his head. "No, this door is to absorb the blast and the second one is to make sure that no radiation escapes… If this door is broken that the blast will rip the door right off its hinges and everyone here will die!"

"There has to be some way to lock the door." Said Matthew.

Canada bit his lip nervously. "I guess there is…"

Gilbert nodded. "Yeah, there has to be a way! We just have to think about this logically and-"

The sound of the door locking made Gilbert and Matthew turn and gasp in shock. Canada had locked himself in the other room. A sad smile on his face. "There's a lock on this side… But someone needs to be on the other side for it to work…"

"Canada!" Screamed Gilbert as he beat his fists against the door. "Unlock this door right now!" He was not going to lose Canada, not now, not like this.

Canada smiled sadly and shook his head. "Sorry Gilbert… This door only locks on one side. If I open it up every living thing on this island will get killed… Besides I'm turning into a Plague anyway so…"

"It doesn't matter!" Cried Gilbert. "I can't leave without you! I promised that I'd get you out of here!"

Canada sighed. "Gilbert… Remember how you said that you talked to the Oracle and she told you about your future? Well, back at the pub…"

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Canada threw a table leg at Alexia. "Stop it already!"

Alexia just laughed, causing her chest to bounce in her bra. "What's wrong Canada? Not in the mood for a little loving?"

"How many times do I have to tell you?" Growled Canada. "I'm gay! I'm not interested in any females in that way, especially you! You probably have an STD named after you!"

Alexia chuckled and spun around on her heels, grabbing a mop. "Whatever you say… Why don't you go and talk to the little one? Everything's pretty much done down here."

He didn't need to be told twice. Canada turned and walked up the steps. He kept his head down as he walked. '_Stupid Alexia… What the hell's wrong with her? I do not appreciate her trying to shove her hands down my pants or her trying to shove my face into her chest… what's with the tea leaves?_'

He frowned and followed the trail of tea leaves to a room that reeked of spices and other pungent smells. Curiously he looked inside and frowned; sage and thyme bundles hung from the roof, slowly burning, jars of eyes and bones were placed on rickety wooden shelves and sitting at a table in the middle of it all was a woman; her skin was covered in thick rough scales, her hair was made of misshapen horns and her body was adorned with gold jewellery. This woman was an Oracle.

The woman's yellow snake eyes suddenly snapped open and she glared at Canada. "Canada, the fallen country, the ex-nation, the wanderer, the traveller and the coward. Please take a seat, I believe we have much to discuss…"

Canada nodded and sat in the seat opposite the Oracle. "I don't appreciate being called a coward… But I guess if actions speak louder than words…"

The Oracle smiled. "You abandoned your people, threw away your one chance, destroyed the wheel of fate and remade it into a monstrous fate that was never meant to be."

Canada looked away and sighed. He knew that what she was saying was true. If it wasn't for him none of this would have happened. "I know…"

The Oracle shrugged. "Oh well, you can't change the past, only the future is important now."

Canada chuckled darkly. "Let me guess? You tell me my future about how I screwed up so badly that ever last human in this word dies and becomes a Plague? How Hunter takes over and eventually finds and kills me?"

"It's never that simple." Said the Oracle, her eyes glazed over slightly, as if in a trance. "I can feel the cold hand of death and the end drawing near… I can see the gods of men and all of which they fear… Very soon, but not too soon you will willingly go back to the place you fear. There the prophecy shall be fulfilled and Hunter will die, but even if you kill him, your life ends there. There is no turning back, when you destroy something by your own hands will eventually be destroyed by those same hands."

Canada looked at the Oracle with wide eyes. "You expect me to believe that I'm going to go up there, just to die? Are you insane?"

The Oracle grinned, her sharp teeth showing. "The future isn't seat in stone, but certain events will always happen because they are a fixed point in history; certain countries being created, wars being fought and of course… the fixed point in time when a person dies. Your fate was decided the day you let Hunter live."

Canada shook his head. "No! This isn't possible! I'm not going back there and I'm not going to die!"

"There will come a time when you must choose between your life and the life of another." Said the Oracle. "If you choose to sacrifice your life for them then they shall live a long and happy life with the one they are meant to be with."

Canada frowned and nervously played with the hem of his shirt. "So you're saying that Matthew is still alive? If Gilbert finds out he'll do something reckless and stupid…"

The Oracle smiled sympathetically at the distressed Canadian. "The choice will ultimately be in the hands of another."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Gilbert's mouth went dry. "Canada… I don't understand…"

Canada gave him a weak smile. "I came back to kill Prussia's body then sacrifice myself for you so you could leave with Matthew… At the very core, no matter which world we are in, we are the same… At least death by explosion doesn't seem like a very painful way to go."

Gilbert growled and started to pull pointlessly on the door. "I don't care!"

Canada shook his head sadly and looked over at Matthew, they shared a look and Matthew nodded, grabbing Gilbert's arm. "I'm sorry Gilbert… It's time for us to go."

Gilbert shook his head. "No! I don't want to leave him! You wouldn't understand everything we went through together! You disappeared for four years! Did you know I started cutting? Did you know I tried to kill myself because of you? Did you know Canada kept saving me? I risked my life to save him! I've killed for him! You wouldn't understand!"

Matthew loosened his grip on Gilbert "You're right Gilbert…" He whispered. "I don't know what you're going through… But you don't know what I've been through either! I was pretty much a ghost for four years! I never needed to eat, sleep or breathe! I just watched Hunter manipulate my body for years! I thought I'd never see you again! I've been closer to death than you've ever been! So don't you dare think you're all high and mighty just because of what's happened to you!" Just for good measure he slapped Gilbert in the face.

Gilbert stood their stunned. He never once thought that Matthew would hit him in a million years. "You… you hit me?"

"Damn straight I did!" Snapped Matthew. "And if you don't snap out of your whole, die like a hero thing, I'll punch you! Now lets' go!" He grabbed Gilbert's arm and started to pull him away.

Gilbert growled and tried to pull himself out of Matthew's grip. "No! I've made my choice! I'm staying here! I won't let Canada die alone!"

"Just go!" Yelled Canada. "I don't want you to get killed because of me! I don't care if I die anymore! I kept my promise to Prussia… So now I can die in peace… Please… just go with Matthew and live your life… Because I know I've lived mine to the fullest." Tears were rolling down his face. "If you die here with me… I'll never forgive myself. I want you to live… That's all I'll ever ask of you."

Gilbert bit his lip. He wanted to stay with Canada, he didn't want him to die alone. No one ever wanted to die alone. He didn't care if he died with him, he just wanted Canada to die a peaceful, less violent death.

The drone of a siren made Matthew jump and pull on Gilbert's arm harder. "We have to go now or we're all going to die!"

Gilbert gulped and looked at Canada, one last time. "I'm sorry…"

Canada smiled and waved goodbye. "It's okay. Live your life."

Matthew pulled Gilbert out into the hallway and locked the door. "I'm sorry Gilbert. He did it to save us."

Gilbert nodded sadly, his eyes fixed in the floor. "I know…"

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Canada sighed and sunk down to the floor. '_So this is the end huh? I guess I had a good run… I wonder if it hurts when you die?_'

"Not nearly as much as people think." Said Prussia. "It's more fear and panic that gets people."

Canada smiled and looked to the side. Prussia was sitting next to him slightly transparent in a white shirt and jeans, smiling right back at him. "Sorry it took so long…" Muttered Canada. "I'm an idiot."

Prussia chuckled and shook his head. "You're not an idiot. You just made a few little mistakes, that's all."

Canada shrugged. "Well… I still feel like one."

"I know." Whispered Prussia as he wrapped his arms around Canada's shoulders. "But you did good. I'm so proud of you."

Canada sniffled a little, doing his best to hold back his tears. "So what are you supposed to be? My friendly guide into the next life?"

"Something like that." Said Prussia. He ran his fingers through Matthew's hair and sighed. "You did a brave thing there… Telling them to run and sacrificing yourself like this. So selfless of you."

Canada chuckled. "Selfless? More like stupid."

"Not stupid." Said Prussia sternly. "Selfless, and don't you dare think otherwise." A loud beeping nose started to resonate around the room and some of the machines began to hiss and spit. Prussia smiled sadly and kissed Canada on the lips. "I think it's almost time."

Canada nodded in agreement. "Yeah… Will you stay with me? I… I don't want to die alone."

"I'll never leave you again Birdie." Prussia held Canada's hand tightly. "I promise you that I'll stay with you forever."

Canada smiled and closed his eyes. The heat from the machines was almost unbearable. "Thank you."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

The sound of an explosion ripped through the castle, rocking the entire island. Gilbert could feel his heart breaking. The one person who had stuck by him through everything was now gone for good. They were never coming back. "Canada…"

Matthew sighed sadly and hugged Gilbert. "I'm sorry. I know he meant a lot to you… I'm so, so sorry."

Gilbert smiled a little and let out a shaky breath that he didn't know he was holding in. Matthew could have just left him to die in there, but he didn't. He could have hated Gilbert for everything he had seen him do as a light spirit, but he just ignored it and when he looked into Matthew's eyes he could see what Canada had meant. The eyes were the gateway to the soul, and he couldn't tell Matthew's eyes apart from Canada's. They might have lived different lives and remember different things, but deep down they were still the same.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **I feel horrible for doing that. This is possibly one of the saddest chapters I've ever written, and that's saying a lot when you consider all the torture and stuff I wrote for previous chapters… If you aren't crying too badly please review…


	71. Goodbye

**Shinigami-cat: **Okay, so this is probably the second last chapter or something like that… I OWN NOTHING!

**Goodbye**

Gilbert and Matthew easily made it to the control room. There was a large blue screen covered in the lines of longitude and latitude, there was also a large control panel and a ship-like wheel. Gilbert frowned and looked over at Matthew. "What are we supposed to do?"

Matthew shrugged and started to press some buttons. "I don't know… This thing's usually on auto pilot or something…" Suddenly an image appeared on the screen. "Okay we got something… You have any idea how to drive?"

Gilbert shrugged and gripped the wheel. "May as well give it a go… I mean I can't be that bad at driving an island right?"

"You're not wrong there." Said Matthew. He pressed a few more buttons and a microphone popped up. "Eh? This place has an intercom system now?"

Gilbert shrugged and grabbed the microphone. "Well may as well see if we can deliver the good news to everyone." He cleared his throat and turned it on. "This is your awesome pilot, Gilbert! So I have some good news and some bad news… Good news; Hunter is dead! Bad news; the thing that's keeping this place up in the air has just blown up and we're going to crash… But as I said I'm an awesome pilot and I'll make sure this thing lands safely."

"You think that worked?" Asked Matthew.

Gilbert shrugged and put the microphone down. "I have no idea… Know how to take this off auto pilot?"

"Um… This button I think?" Muttered Matthew as he pressed a purple button. The island started drifting to the right.

Gilbert quickly turned it to the wheel to the left. "Right! Definitely off auto!" He quickly flipped a few switches and mashed a few more buttons, getting a small boost of power. "Okay… Which way is land?"

"Try going right a little or something." Said Matthew. "We have to land this thing soon or die!" Gilbert quickly turned the wheel to the right. The floor slanted a little making Matthew and Gilbert stumble a little. Driving an island was a lot harder than it seemed.

Soon the image of a whitish wall appeared on the screen. "What the hell is that?" Growled Gilbert.

Matthew gulped. "Those would be the White Cliffs of Dover..."

"… FUCK! HOW THE HELL DO YOU MAKE THIS THING GO UP?" Gilbert started to random mash buttons and pull on the wheel, in a frantic attempt to make the island go up. Suddenly the island shook violently as it curved upwards, knocking Matthew and Gilbert to the floor.

"How did you learn to drive?" Snapped Matthew. "Driving dodgems at a freaking fair ground?"

Gilbert groaned and grabbed the wheel again, turning it sharply. "Well sorry! Driving a fucking island isn't exactly something I do on a regular basis! Where the fuck am I supposed to land this thing? London? Are we going to fly this thing to London? Let's just crash this into the side of Scotland!"

"Don't be so melodramatic!" Snapped Matthew. "Just land somewhere like a forest or a lake, or there!" He pointed to a large mud flat area.

"Sounds as good as anything!" Cried Gilbert. He grabbed the microphone and turned on the intercom. "Hey everyone! This is your awesome pilot, Gilbert speaking. Just letting you know we're going to land in about thirty second so hold on tight and try not to get killed by falling buildings!" He put the microphone down and looked over at Matthew. "Do you think this'll work?"

Matthew nodded. "It has to work! We can't die yet. We've survived so much for just a little thing like an out of control flying, island to do stop us now!"

Gilbert nodded. "Right." He quickly turned the wheel, looking desperately for a place to land. After a quick scan of the area he shrugged. "Well… fuck it. We're heading for that lake." With a quick turn of the wheel and a mash of the buttons the island started to nose dive down towards a small lake.

Matthew and Gilbert cried out as the both slipped forwards, slamming into the control panel. Gilbert groaned in pain and rubbed his aching sides. "You okay Birdie?"

"I've been better." Muttered Matthew.

Gilbert smiled a little and reached out to Matthew, pulling him close. "We'll get through this. Just stay close to me and I'll protect you… But if we don't make it, I-I love you."

Matthew smiled and wrapped his arms around Gilbert protectively. "I love you too." Suddenly the island crashed into the ground, shaking apart bricks, burying them under several tons of rock.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Gilbert groaned as he opened his eyes, his head was killing him. '_Fuck… What the hell happened? Where's Matthew?_'

"Good to see you're awake again lad." Said England.

Gilbert looked up at him and grinned. "I never thought I'd be happy to see you again… What happened?"

England sighed. "Well… when the island crashed a bunch of us started to look through the wreckage for any survivors. It took a few days but we found all that we could and killed Plagues… Who is that blond boy who looks like Canada but isn't? Is he from your world?"

Gilbert nodded. "Ja, his name is Matthew… Hunter brought him here somehow and… is he alright?"

"Yes." Said England. "But he's been very quiet ever since we were able to dig you two out. What happened to Canada?"

Gilbert frowned. "He… He was turning into a Plague. Whoever said he had whatever it was lied to him. He turned into a Plague and killed Hunter, but then some stuff happened and Canada sacrificed himself to save Matthew and I… I'm sorry."

England sighed and sat down on the edge of Gilbert's bed. "It's not your fault lad, Canada made his choice. It's okay… Matthew is waiting for you in another room and I've figured out a way to send you both back to where you came from. You'll be home in a matter of hours… It's what Canada would have wanted."

Gilbert nodded and slowly sat up. "Okay. How are we getting back?" England pulled a square box out of his jacket pocket and opened it up. Inside were the five stones that brought him here in the first place; the water, earth, fire, air and spirit stone. Gilbert's jaw dropped. "I thought they were gone."

"They were." Said England. "It took a bloody long time to try and bring them back into existence! Hours of reading and spell casting to even get a damn fragment!"

Gilbert nodded and got out of bed. "Okay… We should probably get this over with."

England smiled a little and led Gilbert over to a room. Inside were Matthew and France. Matthew smiled and quickly ran over to Gilbert and hugged him.

France on the other hand just glared at Gilbert with hatred. "You promised you would keep him safe!" He cried. "You lied!"

Gilbert kept his eyes fixed on the floor. "It doesn't matter what's happened now… The point is Canada's dead. So what are you doing to do about it? Will you just forget him or will you remember him? After everything he's been through he deserves to be remembered."

France shook his head sadly. "But you promised…"

"It wasn't his fault." Said Matthew. "Canada chose to sacrifice himself. If he hadn't have done that we wouldn't be alive right now! The island would have crashed into England and killed us."

England shook his head. "No time to argue about the trivial things in life anymore. It's time for this to end. Everyone here thanks you for what you did and we countries will never forget you." He held the box tightly in his hands. "I wish that Matthew and Gilbert were back in their own world."

There was a blinding flash of light that engulfed the boys and disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving England and France alone in the room. "Who could he?" Whispered France.

"Belt up France." Said England. "We always knew something like this would happen eventually. If you destroy the wheel of fate your blood will be the price to fix it."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Gilbert groaned as he opened his eyes; the sun was peeking through the leaves of the trees that towered over them. The sound of traffic filled his ears and the smell of the sea and petrol attacked his senses. He looked over to his side and smiled at Matthew, who was slowly coming too next to him.

"So we're back?" Asked Matthew nervously.

Gilbert shrugged and slowly sat up. "Let's see… civilization doesn't seem to be totally destroyed… Buildings are standing… No Plagues running around… Oh look, a bird."

Matthew sighed a little in relief. "Okay."

Gilbert stood up and stretched. His joints felt a little stiff from the being thrown from another world. "Well… I guess we should head to my house… I mean it is the closest… Unless my damn family moved while I was freaking gone. Also if the police ask any questions we have amnesia. Fuck telling them we were in another freaking world."

Matthew nodded and started to follow Gilbert. "Of course… This is so weird though… I haven't been here is four years, so much has changed."

Gilbert smiled a little and took Matthew's hand. "You know everyone is going to flip shit when they find out you're still alive right?"

"I guess." Chuckled Matthew. "But what can you do? I was gone for years."

Gilbert grinned as they walked down the street. After walking for about five minutes they came to Gilbert's house. Outside the house were two cars, one he recognised as Francis's car and the other as Alfred's old pickup truck. Now that he thought about it, it was roughly around this time he had left this world.

They walked up to the door and quickly looked at each other. They were both nervous about what was going to happen next. Who knew what might happen when they were reunited with their friends and family again. It terrified them to no end. Gilbert hesitantly raised his hand to knock at the door, but stopped. '_What the hell am I going to say?_'

"It's okay Gilbert." Said Matthew quietly. "We'll get through this together. You don't have to worry about having to face your fears alone anymore. I'll always be here for you."

"I know." Said Gilbert. He took a deep breath and knocked.

After a few seconds the door swung open and Ludwig was standing right in front of them. He looked like a wreck. Nothing like the brother he had left behind. When Ludwig saw Gilbert his eyes went wide with shock. "Bruder?" He asked in disbelief.

Gilbert grinned and wrapped an arm around Matthew's shoulders. "Hey West… We're back."

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **There's one more chapter after this! Please review!


	72. Epilogue

**Shinigami-cat: **OMFG! OVER 1000 REVIEWS! That's amazing! You guys are awesome! I can't believe you all stuck with this story for so long! You guys are so freaking amazing! Thank you so much for reading this! Anyway I'll rant about this more later on… I OWN NOTHING!

**Epilogue**

A lot had happened since Matthew and Gilbert had appeared again. For several months they were questioned by the police as to their whereabouts for the past year, four years for Matthew. It was a stressful time for everyone. They were also taken to a hospital to make sure they were okay. While they were there Gilbert was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and Matthew had a slightly more acute form of PTSD.

It was difficult for both of them but they were able to get back into normal society with minimal difficulty. They still had their moments though. For Matthew he got mild panic attacks when he was left alone for long periods of time. Gilbert on the other hand had vicious and bloody dreams, often walking up screaming. But they could deal with their problems because they had each other. Their past was a secret that they only whispered about to each other. No one but them would ever know the truth.

Their families and friends had been coping rather well with their return. Alfred had stopped being a dick towards Gilbert. He assumed it had something to do with the fact that Matthew was still alive. Gilbert's grandfather and brother seemed to either give him space or dote on him all the time. Antonio and Francis practically clung to Gilbert and Matthew, like they were worried that they would disappear again. But everyone was more than happy to give them both space when they asked for it.

At the moment it was late at night and Gilbert was finding it difficult to sleep again, even with Matthew curled up next to him. He sighed sadly and sat up. '_Damn it… Not again…_'

"Gilbert?" Muttered Matthew sleepily. "What's wrong?"

Gilbert shook his head and ran his fingers through Matthew's hair. "It's nothing Birdie, go back to sleep."

"Not until you tell me what's wrong." Said Matthew as he sat up, leaning against Gilbert's shoulder. "Still can't sleep?"

"Something like that." Muttered Gilbert. "I just don't want to sleep anymore… Not when I know I'll see those things again."

Matthew frowned and gently squeezed Gilbert's hand. "I know… I sometimes dream about them too. But I know it's just a dream so I'm not afraid."

"But my dreams just seem so real." Said Gilbert. "Do you think that maybe we could have saved Canada? I mean if we had just a little more time…"

"If we had a little more time we might have done something." Said Matthew. "But if we had little less time we could have all died. Stop beating yourself up over it. It's not your fault."

Gilbert shrugged. "I know… But I still wonder about them and what's going on in their world… Have they rebuilt their civilization? Is France okay? Do they remember Canada?"

Matthew shrugged. "Maybe they have rebuilt everything, maybe they haven't. Maybe he is okay, maybe he isn't. Maybe they remember Canada, maybe they don't… You shouldn't worry about such things. They don't concern you anymore."

Gilbert frowned and looked away. He knew that Matthew was right. None of that needed to be his business in the first place. It was simply an unfortunate turn of events that happened that forced the problems of the other world onto him. Those problems weren't his to have, but he still felt immensely guilty and bad about it. "I know… I know…"

Matthew sighed and gently turned Gilbert's head so that they were face to face. "Please Gil… Please try to stop blaming yourself for what happened. It wasn't your fault. You shouldn't feel worried anymore. It's over."

"I know." Said Gilbert quietly. He leaned forwards and gently kissed Matthew on the lips. "I know."

"We need to stop thinking about then you know." Said Matthew. "If we keep remembering it'll rip us apart from the inside, more you than me though… I haven't seen as much death as you. We don't have time to live in regret. Life is short."

"Yet it's the longest thing anyone has ever done." Said Gilbert. He sighed and pulled Matthew into a hug. "You know I'm trying to forget… Well the worst parts anyway. I still want to remember some of the good things too."

Matthew smiled and hugged back. "There's nothing wrong with remembering the good parts. I just don't want the darker parts to haunt you for the rest of your life."

Gilbert chuckled sadly. "They'll always be there Birdie… Every single last one of them. But like all things in life it's slowly fading away." He started to run his fingers through Matthew's hair again. "At least this time I have you to help chase away my bad thoughts… I don't think I'd be able to get through this if it wasn't for you."

Matthew smiled sadly and ran his fingers over the scars on Gilbert's arms made all those years ago. "I'm sorry."

Gilbert shook his head. "It wasn't your fault. You did nothing… Let's go back to sleep."

"Are you sure?" Asked Matthew. "I don't mind staying up and talking a bit more."

Gilbert nodded and pulled Matthew down with him. "I'm sure. I don't want to keep you up for too much longer. If we're both tired in the morning Alfred will think we had sex."

Matthew shrugged and snuggled up close to Gilbert's chest. "So? I don't care if he thinks that. I just want to make sure you're okay. You're the most important person in the world to me."

Gilbert smiled and wrapped his arms around Matthew. "I know, Birdie." He whispered. "I know."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

France sighed sadly as he watched several people shoot down several Plagues. When Hunter was killed the Plagues seemed to lose their sense of reason and started to act strangely. This made it easier for humanity to take back the earth. Humanity had won, yet he still felt like they had lost.

"That's the last of them." Said England happily as he approached France. "The last of those human farms has been destroyed. About bloody time too."

"Whatever."

England frowned. "Look France, I know you blame Gilbert for what happened but he didn't do anything. We all knew any mission where one or more people go up there would end in death. You should be proud he managed to kill Hunter."

"I am proud of Canada." Said France sadly. "I just wish he didn't have to die."

England shrugged. "He made his choice. We all make choices for the good of our people. Since Canada no longer had any humans left in his country he had to do what was right for humanity. He did it for all of us."

"I know." Said France. "I know… But it still hurts. Do you think we should have told Gilbert that Prussia was Hunter?"

England shook his head and brushed it off. "It wasn't important. Prussia died years ago. We all know that. Hunter just possessed his body, he may have looked like Prussia but he wasn't. It wouldn't have made any difference anyway."

"I guess…" Muttered France. He sighed sadly. Through this war with Hunter he had lost one of his closest friends and his son. But alas it could not be helped. Through Canada's sacrifice he had saved the world. None of the nations would ever forget him or the sacrifice he made.

"Come on Frog." Said England as he handed France a gun. "Still plenty of Plagues running around. We could use your help taking them out."

France smiled a little but declined. "I'd rather not… Not here, not now, not on Canada's land."

England shrugged. "Your loss… But what are you going to do now? I mean besides rebuild your country."

France smiled a little. "I think I shall raise New Canada."

"New Canada?" Asked England.

France nodded and gestured England to follow him towards a bush. England hesitated but followed him. When he was close enough France crouched down and moved the branches away revealing a small girl with long wavy sliver hair with a random hair curl sticking out the top of her head. She was leaning against Kuma. They were both fast asleep.

England looked at the girl and back at France. "What?"

"I found her a few days ago." Said France. "She was just playing in the broken city with Kuma and she told me her name was New Canada. She's one of us… She looks a little like the secret love child of Canada and Prussia yes?"

England nodded in agreement. "She does… Do you think it's wise to look after her? I mean you still need to look after your own country."

"I'll be fine." Said France as he looked lovingly at the child. "After all, every ending needs a new beginning."

**The End**

**Shinigami-cat: **Thank you all so much for reading this! Your reviews keep me motivated to keep writing! I hope you all enjoyed this story as much as I loved writing to it. Thank you everyone for finding the time to read this super long story. I honestly thought this story might be about thirty chapters… boy was I wrong! Anyway, I hope you check out my other stories. Preferably my two newer stories 'Maple Syrup Chainsaw' and 'Monsters'. I'll always write as long as people keep reviewing!


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